Civil Protection Department

Alpha radiation

• Two protons and two neutrons, or an helium nucleus.

  They have a low penetrating depth, so they can be absorbed only by the outer layers of human skin  - mainly composed by dead cells - thus is not dangerous to life in case of external irradiation, unless the source is ingested or inhaled, in which case they become extremely dangerous, because it may harm radiosensitive tissues.

Beta radiation

• Electrons.

  Beta particles have a higher penetrating power that alpha but most beta particles can be stopped by a few millimeters of aluminum.

Gamma radiation

• Photons.

  They have a high depth energy, and can be pose a health hazard when absorbed by living tissue. They are better absorbed by materials with high atomic numbers and high density, such as lead (few centimeters).

Ionizing radiation

• Ionizing radiation, both of natural or artificial origin, are particles and/or electromagnetic waves that may be produced by radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus and may modify the structure of the matter with which they interact.
  In case of living tissues, the interaction may damage cells, with health consequences. In most cases, the damage is repaired by normal defence mechanisms of the organism but, depending on the entity and duration of exposure, sometimes cells may be harmed, with consequences on exposed individuals.

  There are three types of ionizing radiation:
  
  - Alpha radiation
  - Beta radiation
  - Gamma radiation

National seismic network

• Seismometric monitoring network throughout Italy run by the INGV (Istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia - National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology) It comprises a hundred or so seismic stations, carrying out seismic studies and surveillance, providing epicentre parameters to the Civil protection department for the organisation of emergency intervention.

Radioactivity

• Physical phenomena by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles. Radiation is normally alpha (helium nuclei), beta (electrons), gamma (photons or X rays) and neutrons. Its origin can be natural, e.g. cosmic rays, soil radioactivity or from rocks, or articifial when coming from man-made activities, e.g fission products; it can be concentrated in particular sources or spread in the environment (environemental radioactivity).

   

Ran - National Accelerometric Network

• Accelerometric monitoring network of the ground throughout Italy that records medium and high intensity earthquakes. The most advanced instrumentation is able to record both weak events and strong events close to the epicentre. The RAN is managed by the Civil Protection Department and is currently made up of 456 stations equipped with analog and digital accelerographs. Development and modernisation of this technology is underway and it will cover the whole of Italy with a close-knit network, 20-25 km, of around 500 digital seismic stations, more areas with high seismic risk.

Seismic Emergency Report

• View Sige

Resilience

• In civil protection resilience means the community ability to deal with calamities, overtake them and become
  strengthened - if not transformed - while restoring normal life conditions.

Resonance

• Physical condition that occurs when a swaying system, for example a building, is subject to periodic frequency vibration equal to its own oscillation. The resonance phenomenon usually causes a significant increase in the amplitude of the oscillations which leads to a considerable accumulation of energy within the oscillator; in the case of a building subject to the effects of seismic waves, this can cause serious damage.

Risk

• A risk is the possibility that a natural or man-made phenomenon may cause damage to the population, inhabited and production areas and infrastructures in a given area in a certain period of time.
  Risk can therefore be expressed by the formula: R = H x V x E

  H = Hazard: the probability that a phenomenon of a certain intensity occurs in a certain period of time, in a certain area.
  V = Vulnerability: vulnerability of an element (people, building, infrastructures, businesses) is the potential for damage following vibration caused by an event of a certain intensity.
  E = Exposure: or Exposed value: is the unit number (or “value”) of each of the elements at risk in a given area, like human lives or inhabited areas.

ROS - Head of rescue operations

• Officer of the Fire Service present in the area where operations are carried out, with the role of technical rescue Manager in the event of fire in infrastructures with danger to people, or other urgent technical rescue interventions. He or she operates in close coordination with the DOS, Direttore delle operazioni di spegnimento (chief of fire fighting operations), to optimise interventions as set out in the AIB plans – Antincendi boschivi regionali (regional forest fire prevention).