UDINE. Imprudence, poor preparation and underestimation of risks. These are the main causes of accidents in the mountains, which have remained a constant in the summer also in our region. Between June and August, in particular, the soldiers of the Alpine Rescue of the Guardia di Finanza (Sagf) operating in Friuli Venezia Giulia carried out 59 rescue interventions in the mountainous areas of the Carnic Alps, the Pesarine Dolomites and the Julian Alps. A total of 72 people were assisted: 36 were injured due to falls or other accidents during the excursions, while the others were brought to safety unharmed.
Among the most recent interventions, a note from the regional Sagf recalls, the recovery of two Austrian citizens who, along the Alpe Adria Trail, had lost the track of the path, ending up in a deep and steep gully and that of a 21-year-old from Gemonese who , during a mountaineering excursion with her 17-year-old brother on the Spigolo Spinotti via ferrata, she had lost the itinerary by getting stuck in a steep gully. Also rescued two Spanish tourists who, during an excursion with their labrador dog, lost the main road that goes up from the Flaiban Pacherini refuge, towards the Fantulina Alta fork, they found themselves in a very inaccessible area where they were taken by the panic.
All the activities in question were carried out in close collaboration with all the actors involved in the rescue device in the mountain environment, first of all the personnel of the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps of the region (Cnsas), with which a specific operational collaboration protocol signed last June.
In the region there are two Sagf stations of the Guardia di Finanza, in Tarvisio and Tolmezzo. The financiers in force in these departments are highly specialized soldiers who obtain the qualification of Alpine Rescue Technician after passing rigorous selective tests and a demanding training program at the Alpine School of Predazzo. Equipped with sophisticated vehicles and equipment, they not only deal with rescue and assistance in the most important mountain areas, but are called upon to operate more complex interventions: avalanches and landslides, search for people in inaccessible areas, finding lifeless bodies or with injuries severe.
Precisely in these circumstances, the operators of the Sagf, by virtue of the qualifications and attributions of officers and judicial police agents, also represent a point of reference for the Judicial Authority, documenting what happened in the places where accidents occurred and carrying out the related investigations in quality of “mountain police”. In their daily activity, moreover, the Sagf soldiers are supported by rescue dog units (3 currently in service) including avalanche dogs and dogs for mountain research.