UPDATE: Bomb threat at Royal Inland Hospital unfounded
Police have stood down after a bomb threat at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops proved to be unfounded.
The bomb threat came in this afternoon, Aug. 25, and the hospital was on lockdown. It is not made clear exactly how the threat was made.
"Today, the Royal Inland Hospital experienced a potential security risk identified by the RCMP. The incident involved a bomb threat that was determined to be a false alarm after police investigation and search of the premises," reads an emailed statement from Susan Duncan, a spokesperson for Interior Health. "(Royal Inland Hospital) followed safety procedures by restricting access to the hospital at the request of the RCMP. Those precautions were lifted when police advised it was safe to do so, just before 5 p.m. today. The response by our staff to this incident was excellent and, fortunately, the situation was resolved quickly. Thank you as well to our patients, visitors and families for their co-operation in avoiding the hospital during this time and allowing the police to do their work."
Some staff were waiting outside until the lockdown was lifted, including Maureen Graham, who works in logistics, shipping and receiving.
"Apparently at approximately 2:47 (p.m.) there was an alert within the hospital that there had been a threat so they go into a protocol, everything gets locked down… no one can exit and no one can enter," Graham says. "I'm waiting to come onto a 3 o'clock shift and I have to wait until I get the all clear and it hasn't happened yet… it's a code black which refers to a bomb threat."
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