Babies, mothers evacuated

Thirty-five babies, two of them listed as critical because they require ventilators, and 42 women were hastily evacuated from the Maternity Department of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital following a bomb threat from an anonymous caller late Tuesday night. Two of the women were in the labour room on the verge of delivery when the call was received. As officers from the Belmont Police Station and Fire Service Station rushed to the hospital, nurses, attendants, nursing students, trainee midwives and even mothers who had delivered had already begun rushing out. Cots were pushed and some mothers carried their babies in their arms as they exited the three floors of the Maternity Department via the stairs and elevator.

The postnatal ward is on the second floor and antenatal ward on the third. The 18 babies in the neonatal unit and two women in the labour ward on the first floor were also moved and joined the others in the parking lot near the Charlotte Street entrance. A nurse who was on duty, said the night was chaotic. “The hospital obviously does not have a disaster preparedness plan. Good thing we have people who have initiative. If it was Monday when it rained non stop, what a predicament that would have been.” The nurse said some patients did not want to evacuate and attendants had to coax them to do so.

She said fire officers advised the group that the parking lot was not a safe place to assemble so the group shifted to  the foyer of the main building. The two babies on ventilators were taken to the resuscitation room of the Accident and Emergency Department along with two “very ill” women. The nurse said beds were available on Ward 23 and antenatal patients (women who were due to deliver) were accommodated while Ward 12 was divided into sections to accommodate postnatal patients (those who had given birth), premature babies in cots and women in advanced stages of labour. The nurse said five beds were used for a Labour Ward. “That’s where two babies were eventually delivered.”

She said the search for the bomb did not immediately begin with the arrival of the fire officers because they were waiting for a “technician.” She could not say how long the search took when the technician finally arrived. The Maternity Department was declared safe at 11.40 pm and patients were being moved back. Up to 3 am this was still happening, but the nurse said the process was “better” because an ambulance was used to transport patients. She questioned what kind of depraved mind would make a bomb threat to a hospital.

Charmaine Codrington, Communications Manager for the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA), said the caller contacted the telephone operator of the hospital saying there was a bomb at the Maternity Department. The operator conveyed the message to the nurse in charge who informed the Nursing Administrator, Yvonne Bullen-Smith, who contacted the Belmont Fire Station. Asked about the condition of the patients yesterday, she reported that they were “settled.” The area was sanitised as usual yesterday morning.

She disagreed with the statement that the NWRHA did not have a plan. Codrington said as soon as the call was received, the Nursing Administrator took charge. Other hospital and NWRHA officials were also contacted. Codrington said two women in the delivery room, 19 women on the antenatal ward, 21 others on the postnatal ward, and the babies  were evacuated. Officials were also notified. “I don’t think they lacked direction.” Codrington reported that Bullen-Smith said relocating was “extremely distressing.” She appealed for people to desist from making crank calls.  Initial investigations by officers of the Belmont Police Station have led them to believe the bomb threat was an “inside job.”