During the time from 1974 till 1984 Bologna and the region around it was centre of three terrible terrorist attacks, the biggest of which took place on 2nd of August in 1980, inside the central railway station in the city centre of Bologna. All three attacks were bombings on trains. On 2nd of August 1980 85 people died and more than 200 were wounded. A spontaneous rescue took place with ambulances and medical emergency services, hospitals, a very high amount of volunteers motivated through their strong citizenship feeling. There was no specific training or equipment for such an event. Hospital ambulances usually are not involved in first aid, radio and telephone network systems were still at a very early phase of development. Until July 1st 1980 there was no central dispatch centre for all cities ambulance services, since then they are using their own and a general radio frequency. Also, there was no Civil Protection Town Office nor any Emergency Plan of any kind. The Rescue happened in 7 Phases, in the 1st one a spontaneous and self-managed rescue among citizens started right after the bombing, in the 2nd phase first organised sanitary, technical and instrumental aid began while during the 3rd phase the town hall activated a reception and information centre, an operative municipal rescue centre and some kind of a mixed operative centre. In the 4th phase the Bologna-Rescue service helped to improve transport of injured people, an organisation that is still operating today, as “118” service. The 5th phase till the 5th of August the reception and information centre organised the support for relatives with lots of voluntary help from hotels, restaurants and taxi drivers, while fire brigades and military services cleared the railway station and the city from remaining ruins. The 6th phase on 6th of August was the day of state funerals. The 7th phase since the 6th of August is still running and is still giving all needy people help and financial support, if possible. This program is mainly financed from funds.

The noticed positivities of the response on the attack were the quick and effective organisation of all aid services as well as voluntary help from the citizens, the organisation of a reception and information centre and the co-ordination of rescuers managed by fire fighters and the co-ordination skill of the different public structures, even though they were lacking emergency plans.