(Note 1) Civil Protection is an interconnected system: each of its components, i.e. Dipartimento della Protezione Civile (Civil Protection Department), Ministries, Vigili del Fuoco (Fire-fighters), Soccorso Sanitario 118 (Emergency Ambulance Service), Regions and Local Authorities, volunteer organisations, the scientific community, etc., form the fabric of this network.
In the event of an emergency, Regione Veneto coordinates the public and private actors as they carry out rescues and restore normal conditions; in the absence of a full-blown emergency, it promotes the training of volunteers and the organisation of exercises; it also provides incentives for prediction and prevention to reduce risks and to mitigate damage if a disaster occurs.
Local Civil Protection is called on also to deal with responses outside its own area, in synergy with the national Civil Protection Department: that was the case in the recent emergency in Abruzzo, which was devastated by an earthquake on 6 April 2009. This incident involved Veneto's Regional Civil Protection System; more than 6,000 volunteers from Veneto have served in Abruzzo, as have more than 200 civil servants from the Regional Administration itself and Local Authorities; in addition more than 300 surveyors have checked buildings damaged by the earthquake to ensure they were fit for habitation. The activities performed during their time in Abruzzo included relief for evacuees, operational support of fire-fighters, the setting up and running of tent cities, the preparation and distribution of meals, cleaning and disinfestation, logistics and transport, the management of administrative activities of the Mixed Command Centres, psychological support and recreation. In the six months of work done during the emergency, the command centres of the Regional Civil Protection (Co.R.Em.) remained constantly active to carry out the coordination needed by the various subjects involved. Even during this period, the Regional Civil Protection remained in operation within its own territory and intervened in the events within its field of interest.
At the behest of the National Civil Protection in Rome, Veneto's Regional Civil Protection was also called into action after an earthquake struck the Republic of Haiti on 12 January 2010. On 23 February 2010, after the spill of tonnes of hydrocarbons into the River Lambro in Lombardia, the Regional Civil Protection, in coordination with the other regional and State institutions involved, mobilised over 200 volunteers in order to monitor and provide logistical support, following the environmental clean-up response of naval units that sailed up the Po to Alto Polesine; it also gathered, transported and put in place installations on the Po to stop and absorb the oil slick.
In order to provide a unified and organised response to disaster, the activities performed over the years have facilitated the creation of synergies between the various actors involving material and human resources, local institutions and, especially, appropriately trained and equipped volunteers of the Civil Protection. Today, 360 volunteer organisations are enrolled in Regional Civil Protection register, with a total of 16,000 volunteers.
In order to better manage these relationships and optimise the contribution every actor can provide, specific conventions have been signed between Regional Civil Protection and volunteer bodies and organisations. Finally, by joining a national project, on 2 April 2009 Regione Veneto launched its Centro Funzionale Decentrato (Decentralised Operations Centre), which coordinates the technical and institutional bodies involved in Civil Protection, with the task of predicting events and providing information on risks throughout the region (Table 19.3.1).