Rome has a coordinated plan for
emergency response teams and law enforcement in the event of a
terrorist attack, especially in light of the coming Jubilee Year
which is expected to draw millions of religious pilgrims to the
Eternal City.
In an exclusive look on Wednesday, ANSA reviewed the
document in which the plan is detailed, and highlights the
Colosseum and St. Peter's Square as the two most important "hot"
zones in terms of risk of attack.
If an attack were to hit in the area of the Colosseum, the
response plan calls for intervention from the Central Security
Operations Service (NOCS), the Secret Service (Digos), fire
fighters, civil protection, and ambulances, all ready to move
between what the plan designates as "hot" zones and "tepid"
zones.
If a bomb is involved in an attack, the first responders
are the fire department's Nuclear Biological Chemical
Radiological (NBCR) teams.
Various points within the historical centre are designated
as landing sites for air ambulances, including Circus Maximus.
The plan also designates points for stationing emergency
rescue teams and ambulances to take patients to specific area
hospitals.
All of the contingency plans in the document also outline
traffic viability management throughout the city, to allow
emergency vehicles to reach the "hot" and "tepid" zones rapidly.
In short, the plan is a sort of "gear-shift" operational
system that can change the coordinated response based on the
place of the attack, with the overall aim of limiting potential
damage and bloodshed.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA