UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI ROMA "TOR VERGATA"Governments, institutions, and citizens now increasingly have to face natural disasters, accidental disasters, epidemics, famine, terrorist attacks and catastrophic events.
The past years have witnessed unprecedented scenarios in the history of unconventional events. Whereas only a short time ago these disasters seemed to reflect academic or intelligence simulations they have now become a reality. In the present geopolitical climate the likelihood that catastrophic events accidents will take place increases and the press begins to report them with worrying and growing regularity.
How do these events originate? How can we assess them? Perhaps from the number of victims? From the structural damage they cause? From the economic costs and from endeavors to reconstruct afterwards? What are the juridical implications that arise in preventing and managing them? And the ethical-religious implications? Can we organize “Preventive Intelligence” to identify, monitor and defuse these serious threats? And besides, how should these disasters be managed? Can we simulate possible events and prepare a “possible strategic response”? What is the role of Medicine? These and other questions will be addressed during the Master program teaching sessions and training.
No doubt, whatever their nature and origin, the first problem catastrophic events raise is a medical one given that they impact morbidity and mortality rates in the population involved and among the first responders called immediately after the event. Yet because Emergencies cannot and should not be improvised, to comply with national and community directives it is fundamentally important that the University – through a strategic qualified high-level training course – plan and manage emergencies of all types. These professionals must necessarily undergo specialist courses grafted on wider cultural training, within which Security/Safety and Medical Mass Casualty Disaster Management integrate perfectly with the wider concept of Homeland Security.
Hence knowing that facing a global problem dictates the widest possible interdisciplinary synergy, the Master program aims to train these professionals in all possible ways needed to enable them to deal with the complex factors an emergency involves, so that they can effectively prevent these events and respond to them rapidly and efficiently.