Civil Protection Department

Autonomous lodging financial aid

• Financial aid that may be granted in emergencies, with a special order, to citizens who, forced to leave their homes, are willing to provide independently for their own accommodation arrangements.

Caldera

• Wide subcircular depression created by a volcano, generally measuring more than a kilometre in diameter. It has subvertical walls and is the result of the collapse of a small or large part of the roof of a near-surface magmatic chamber that emptied following a big eruption.

Magmatic chamber

• Chamber where magma accumulates, located a few kilometres below the volcano. 

Undisturbed samples

• Soil samples, commonly knows as "carrots", wihdrawn and kept in hollow punches, and used during laboratory tests for physical and mechanical soil characterization.

CAPI - Emergency assistance centre

• Logistic pole where emergency resources are properly stored in order to be promptly used for aid and assistance to the population (tents, plant design, beds and sheets, generators, etc.) and rescuers efficiency (means, draining pumps, water purifyng devices, etc.).

Survey map

• A map showing the location and kind of surveys carried out to characterise the subsoil. As part of seismic microzonation studies, this map shows soundings, geophysical investigations, instrumental measurements and any other information used for characterising the territory from a seismic point of view.

Level 3 seismic microzonation map

• Level 3 seismic microzonation maps associate a numerical quantification of seismic motion amplification to the zones or parts of zones identified on the Map of homogeneous microzones from a seismic perspective. These numerical quantifications permit the following maps to be drawn up:
  
  - map of stable zones and stable zones susceptible to local amplification, characterised by amplification factors;
  - map of zones with permanent deformation, characterised by quantity parameters.
  Overlapping these two maps gives a level 3 seismic microzonation map.

Level 1 seismic microzonation map (Map of homogeneous microzones from a seismic perspective)

• A map that identifies the zones where, based on lithostratigraphic and geomorphologic characteristics, it is possible to forecast homogeneous behaviour in the event of an earthquake. On the map, the microzones are divided into:
  
  a) stable zones, where no significant local effects are hypothesised and seismic motion is not modified
  b) stable ones susceptible to local amplification, where amplifications of seismic motion are expected
  c) zones susceptible to instability, where the expected predominant seismic effects can be traced back to permanent deformation of the territory. The main kinds of instability are:
  
  - landslides
  - liquefaction
  - active and capable faults
  - differential compaction
  
   

Geolithological paper

• Paper which sets out the limits of the lithological units recognized in the study area, distinguished on the basis of the physical characteristics of rocks and their age, or group of fossils. The paper also reports the non-active tectonic elements - faults, folds, thrust faults - and geomorphic.

Land register of areas covered by fire

• Since 2000, each municipality is required to assess, through a special register, the stands already covered by fire in the previous five years, making use of surveys carried out by the State Forestry Corps, and update it annually in case of new fires.

  The list of land areas hit by the fire and, therefore, subject to the limitations provided by law, must be exposed for thirty days to the town council, for comments.
  After this deadline, the municipalities evaluate the comments submitted and approved within the next sixty days, the final lists and their perimeters. The revision of the lists with the deletion of provisions relating to the prohibitions referred to in paragraph 1 of art. 10 of Law 353/2000 is permitted, only when the periods indicated for each ban expiry.

Rescue chain

• Sequence of device, functional and/or structural, that allows the management of disaster victims. It deals with the identificatio, delimitation and coordination of different intervention sectors for victims rescue, the Rescue Noria set-up between the event place and the Pma, and the Evacuation Noria set-up between the Pma and hospitals.

Emergency aid chain

• It is like a normal aid chain, but more complex due to the event or for environmental features. It usually features one or more evacuation health centres (Cme), along the la evacuation noria. Field hospitals, le navi ospedale, mobile surgery medical units are equivalent to Cme's.

Tar

• Tar belongs to the category of bituminous materials and is a composite deriving from the dry distillation of fossil carbon, in particular of bituminous coal (the most important fossil carbon). It is a thick black or dark brown liquid.

Ccs - Aid Coordination Centre

• The top coordination body for civil protection activities during an emergency on a provincial level, comprising the heads of all the operating units working in the province. The Ccs identify strategies and measures for dealing with emergencies, also through coordination of activities by the Moc - Mixed operation centres. They are organised into support functions.

Cdr - Fuel from waste

• Refuse-derived fuel (RDF), following UNI 9903-1 technical laws Fuel Many fuels can be derived from waste, refuse can be combusted directly in an incinerator to provide power, methane produced at landfill can be collected and combusted, even chicken litter can be dried and combusted. However since this report is looking into biofuels for transport this section will concentrate only on liquid and gas fuels produced from waste that are suitable for combustion in a vehicle engine.

   

  Combustibile classificabile come Rdf di qualità normale, sulla base delle norme tecniche UNI 9903-1 e successive modifiche e integrazioni. È recuperato dai rifiuti urbani speciali non pericolosi, mediante trattamenti finalizzati a garantire un potere calorifico adeguato al suo utilizzo, nonché a ridurre e controllare: il rischio ambientale e sanitario; la presenza di materiale metallico, vetri, inerti, materiale putrescibile e il contenuto di umidità; la presenza di sostanze pericolose, in particolare ai fini della combustione.

Cecis - Common Emergency Communication and Information Centre

• Common Emergency Communication and Information Centre.

  It facilitates communication between the MIC with National Authorities. Its main task is to host a database on potentially available assets for assistance, to handle requests for assistance on the basis of these data, to exchange information and to document all action and message traffic through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

   

Differential compaction

• Permanent deformations of varying entities of the foundation soils subject to seismic shaking. These manifest in the zones of contact between lithologies with different mechanical behaviour and can determine damage to buildings constructed on these soils.

Operating centre of the National Forestry Corps

• The structure established in 1992 has its premises in the General Inspectorate of the National Forestry Corps, to provide the necessary support and coordination to the national forestry operating activities. The whole activity of the Operating Centre is focused on the number 1515 for environmental emergencies. Calls received, along with the ones of the regional operating centres, are mainly about wood fires, reports of environmental damages, civil protection, public rescue and cruelty to animals.

National road system coordination centre

• Structure that deals with crisis situations linked to the road system by adopting, even as a prevention, the most suitable intervention strategies . The centre is established by the Ministry of Interiors, that participates into it with his representatives - Fire Department, public air and civil defence and Department for internal and territorial affairs -, along with the ones of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transportation, the Civil Protection Department, Carabinieri, Anas (National Autonomous Roads Corporation), Aiscat (National Association of Dealer Society for motorways and tunnels), and National Railways.

Functional Centre for civil protection purposes (CFC network)

• Network of support centres to the decisions of the competent authorities for alerts and emergency management.
  For the purposes of the functions and tasks of evaluation, decision-making, and the consequent acceptance of responsibility, the network of functional consists of the Regional Functional Centres, or decentralized and a State or Central Functional Centre, Department of Civil Protection.

  The network of Functional Centres operates according to shared criteria, methods, standards and procedures and is a part of the National Civil Protection Service. The service provided by the network, under the management of the national warning system for hydraulic and hydrogeological risk, is divided into two phases: the prediction of the nature and intensity of weather events expected, of the impact of such events that could occur in the area, the evaluation of the level expected in critical areas and the surveillance and monitoring phase of the territory.

Operating centre

• Civil protection centre set up in the area hit by the emergency to guarantee coordinate management of intervention. The centre must be located in an area safe from the various kinds of risks, in premises that are suitable from a structural, functional and logistics point of view. It is divided into support functions, according to the Augustus Method, with all the administrations, bodies and individuals that work together in management of the emergency represented. The classic coordination chain, a purely theoretic model, sees from a local to national level activation of the following Centres in hierarchical order: Coc - Centro operativo comunale (municipal operations centre), Com - Centro operativo misto (mixed operations centre), Ccs, - Centro coordinamento soccorsi (relief coordination centre), Dicomac - Direzione comando e controllo (command and control headquarters).

CEVAD - Data elaboration and evaluation centre

• Technical structure established at Ispra with dlgs. no. 230/1995, activated in case of radiological events that represent a national emergency. For the evalutaion of the emergency, of environemental radioactivity levels and possible consequences, it operates supporting the Civil Protection Department, and the civil protection Operating Committee.

Seismic classification

• The seismic classification is the division of the territory in zones with different seismic hazard. Italy is currently divided into four zones, where special technical regulations must be applied with growing levels of protection for building (anti-seismic standards), maximum in Zone 1, the most dangerous area, where severe earthquakes have caused very serious damage in the past. All Italian municipalities come under one of the four seismic zones.

Cme - Medical evacuation centre

• Structural device for the sanitary treatment of victims; it is activated in case of catastrophes on wide areas. It is located along the path of the Evacuation Noria to allow  permettere di stabilizzare il trattamento dei feriti ed ottimizzare, su più ampia scala, l'utilizzazione delle risorse di trasporto sanitario e quelle di cura definitiva. Ad uno stesso Cme possono afferire più Pma. È sinonimo di ospedale da campo.

Co – Operational Committee of civil protection

• Central body of the National civil protection service that ensures unified management and coordination of emergency activities, setting out the interventions of all the administrations and organisations involved in providing relief.

Coa - Advanced Operations Centre

• Operations centre activated in some particular situations. It is competent for specific sectors of intervention in a limited area.

Coau - Joint Air Operations Centre

• Unit through which the Department of Civil Protection coordinates the activity of extinguishing forest fires with the State air fleet on national territory. The COAU receives requests for intervention forwarded by the COR or SOUP. Any part of the country can be reached within 60-90 minutes of take off. The COAU is an operating service of Department VIII – Air activities of the Department of Civil Protection.

Coc - Local Operations Centre

• Operations centre in support of the Mayor, for the management and coordination of relief and assistance services to the population. The centre must be located in anti-seismic buildings, inside areas that are easily accessed and not exposed to any kind of risk.

Coemm - Operations Centre for Maritime Emergencies

• Civil Protection Department Operations Centre – Emergency management office that works in normal and emergency situations as part of the System.
  It contributes to the management of crises caused by sea pollution and supports decontamination and salvage of flotsam and jetsam at sea or on the shore, if a state of emergency is declared. It also monitors aid provided for accidents at sea and activates marine units used for Civil Protection purposes.

Coi - Centro operativo intercomunale (Intermunicipal Operations Centre)

• Operations centre that coordinates emergency intervention in an area that generally covers more than one neighbouring municipality or corresponds to the territory of competence of the mountain communities. In many territorial situations, the COI is not activated only in emergencies but also works in normal situations and acts as a local point of reference and contact for civil protection activity.

Coi - Military Central Operation Command

• Headquarters of the Chief of the Defence Staff, which contributes to general Defence Planning, carries out operational planning and directs joint-force operations and drills. It develops the methods for the simulation of strategic and operational scenarios, analyses activities and contributes to the formulation of doctrine for NATO and other international organisations

Lava flow

• Flow of magma emitted during an effusive volcanic eruption.

Pyroclastic flow

• Fast-moving current of superheated gas (which can reach temperatures of about 1,000 °C (1,830 °F)) and rock. They are a common and devastating result of certain explosive volcanic eruptions. The flows normally hug the ground and travel downhill, or spread laterally under gravity. Their speed depends upon the density of the current, the volcanic output rate, and the gradient of the slope. Their distribution may vary, depending on the morphology of the area.

   

Eruptive column

• A mixture of pyroclastics, gas and steam emitted during an explosive eruption. It rises in the atmosphere at great speed and can reach heights vary according to the energy of the eruption and the size and shape of the duct.

Mobile column

• This is the well-balanced group of relief teams, means, equipment and specialist modules, even belonging to different but jointly coordinated structures, that intervene in emergency situations.
  The mobile column is designed and created to guarantee instrumental and performance operative standards that are the same for all interventions and ensure the necessary continuity of action throughout the entire duration of the calamity.

Regional Mobile Column

• The regional mobile Colums is created by a project of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces. It provides for functional modules interchangeable able to guarantee homogenous operating standards for every intervention and self-sufficiency for the entire emergency.

  The mobile column is constituted by a complex of men, equipment and procedures and, in case of major interventions, is composed of:
  
  • assistance modules to the population
  • meal production and distribution modules
  • emergency Telecommunication modules
  • secretary and command module
  • logistic module for operators and rescue activities
  • health module – Advanced Medical Post (Pma)
  

Com - Mixed Operations Centre

• Operating unit that coordinates emergency services.
  The Com must be located in anti-seismic buildings in compliance with the current legislation, and not exposed to any kind of risk. The facilities used as Coms must have a minimum total surface area of 500 m2 with an internal division that entails at least: a room for meetings, a room for support functions, a room for volunteers, and a room for telecommunications.

Components of the National Civil Protection Service

• The central administration of the State, regions, provinces, municipalities and mountain communities which, according to the respective legislation and competences, see that civil protection activities are put into action. Also contributing to civil protections activities are public sector agencies, institutions and scientific research groups, all other institutions and organisations including private ones, citizens, voluntary groups and professional associations.

Compost

• It is the result of decomposition and humification of a mixture of organic materials (like for example pruning waste, leaves and grass clippings from the garden, kitchen waste, manure and sewage) by macro and microorganisms in particular conditions. It is a product obtained from the composting of the organic part of urban waste, respecting special technical standards that define content and use compatible with protecting the environment and health and in particular that define quality levels.

Soil Feeder

• Fertilister used in farming and gardening to add to the soil one or more nutritious elements that can be used by plants.

Volcanic vent

• Structure through which the magma rises to the surface.

National Council of civil protection volunteering

• Collegial body with consulting capacity. It is composed of one representative from each volunteer organization of civil protection at national level which is listed in the National Civil Protection Department.
  
  The council was set up by decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 25 January 2008 at the Civil Protection Department.

Regional councils of civil protection voluntary work organizations

• Advisory bodies of civil protection voluntary work organizations at regional level. They are established with a regional measure and can be included in regional laws. The same advisory functions are carried out, at provincial level, by provincial voluntary work councils. 

   

Radioactive Contamination

• Presence of a radioactive substance in foodstuffs, materials, surfaces, home or work environments or in a human organism.

Coordination of civil protection voluntary organizations

• Boards covering several volunteer organizations that get together and recognize a common statute. They can create a new organization self-registered regional or national, or may represent de facto coordination. They aim to strengthen relations between the various components of the volunteers, maintain links and collaborate with institutions.

Cross-Hole

• A seismic survey that uses two or more borings (usually just a few metres apart). A vertical impulse source is placed into one and one or more receivers (geophones) into the others. Based on the distances that the waves travel, measurement of the times of the first arrival and/or amplitude of the elastic waves, the seismic wave speeds (Vs, Vp) can be calculated and the elastic parameters of the rock/ground determined. Depending on the method used, the results give either an integral average value for the zone under study or a seismic tomography of the soil.

CSV - Voluntary work service centres

• Organisms with the purposes of supporting and qualifying activities of voluntary work organizations. They are provided by art. 15 of law no. 266 of 1991 on voluntary work and are established at local boards. They are financed with special regional funds. Voluntary work organization manages them and the applicants for the establishment request may be:: local boards, a minimum number of 5 voluntary work organizations, bank patronized fundations, and savings banks.