A patient, waiting to be examined at the Udine hospital for a simple medication, appeared strange. A few days ago, it was noticed by a Sardinian nurse who works in specialist surgery, and who saved his life. But Renato Serci is not simply a long-time professional passionate about his work, who has been able to show great sensitivity to small signals, he is also an inventor, in the health field but not only.
“I was used for the pre-Covid triage - says Serci, 52, to L'Unione Sarda - and this young man arrived, I immediately saw that his face was pale, and his gestures showed restlessness. I asked him if everything was okay, he replied 'well, let's say yes', but I was not convinced. I insisted and he said 'I feel like I have a man sitting on my chest'.
Was he alarmed at that point?
“Sure, I spent 15 years in the coronary unit, so I wanted further confirmation: 'Do you have a tingling sensation in your left arm?', And when he nodded I activated, even though he wanted to get to his visit and go home to rest. 'She doesn't go away', I reiterated, so the patient was sent to the emergency room. Within minutes he was taken to the hemodynamics room where it was ascertained that he had an ongoing, and even extensive, heart attack. They subjected him to an angioplasty ”.
How do you save a life with a look and a few questions?
“The passion for what I do has always been enormous, it only takes a few moments, sometimes it turns out to be fundamental, even if I came to be a nurse a little by chance”.
What do you mean?
"I am originally from Soleminis, I was studying Engineering at the University of Cagliari, but being part of a large family I was looking for some financial independence, so I knew about the possibility of doing the regional competition for nurses, I participated and won access to the course. I started working at the Binaghi bone marrow transplant center, then I moved to Milan, again through competition, I went to the Fatebenefratelli hospital. And I met my wife, I moved to Udine, where I still live ”.
Wouldn't he have had the same opportunities in Sardinia?
“Of course, it was 1999, I had excellent job opportunities, but for me going away was an opportunity for growth, which I probably would not have had if I had stayed. My parents are there, my brothers too, so I go back several times a year, I have my land in my heart ”.
From Engineering to the healthcare sector, what is the link?
“Apparently none, but I have always had the 'passion' of design, which I have remained. And in fact I created 'Frigò', which is used precisely for the transport and storage of particular preparations ".
What is it about?
"It all started in 2014, I was working at the coronary unit and I saw that there was no device that kept a constant temperature for the use of various drugs, including flu vaccines, which for example were transported improperly, with 'siberini' or in raw cooler bags, with heat loss. So I began to think that an apparatus capable of maintaining a certain temperature was needed, with the cold to be released over time ".
And what did he do?
“Before the tests with thermometers, stuff bought on the internet, the results I must say were not amazing. Later I entrusted myself to a design studio in Modena. They prepared the drawings for me, made tests and prototypes, and the first results arrived. My invention differs from what already exists because, in addition to absorbing the cold in a special chamber, it releases it when it is needed. If the content, the drug we suppose, tends to heat up, Frigò maintains the right temperature ".
So he patented it.
“I filed the industrial patent in 2014, and once I obtained the certificate I started looking for sponsors to understand if they wanted to produce the prototype. There was great worldwide interest at the fairs. But I did not achieve anything concrete and I did not have the economic possibility to do it all by myself ".
The coronavirus, however, has changed the cards on the table.
"Exactly, in 2020, with the outbreak of the pandemic, some journalists, looking through dossiers and documents, found my patent. The problem currently remains: either someone buys my patent or some company produces my prototype ".
How do you see the health situation as a nurse?
"We are significantly improving, I too have had Covid despite three doses of the vaccine, but unfortunately the variants determine a devious face of the virus. We have to live with it, go to an endemic, because we will not defeat it. Now people have greater sensitivity and even the health burden has been able to breathe a sigh of relief ".
Is the situation in Sardinia following?
“With attention also, among all the regions it is the one that always arrived late, let's say, the fourth wave occurred later than other realities. Even the summer I do not think should cause concern, I see far in 2020 when there were outbreaks, the population is largely vaccinated. It can happen to get sick, the highest chances are where there is a crowd, but with vaccines we can say that we are less at risk of ending up in intensive care. There are cases of people who have had Covid more or less with the symptoms of a flu ".