Approximately 53 pregnant women and 12 babies seeking medical attention at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital had to be taken to safety yesterday, following a bomb threat at the medical institution.
The threat later turned out to be a prank call.
CEO of the North West Regional Health Authority Judith Balliram said at around 1.45 pm, a doctor on Ward 301 of the Maternity Unit answered the hospital’s phone and was told by a male caller that a bomb was on the ward and “he hopes that everyone would be happy after that.”
Three mothers who were giving birth also had to be shifted to Ward 1, while 12 babies seeking treatment in the Neonatal Ward were moved to the Adult ICU.
Balliram said after an hour’s search, fire officers came up empty-handed. Balliram admitted that it was becoming habitual for people to make prank calls to the hospital.
She pleaded with the public not to disrupt the hospital’s service since the experience left patients, doctors and auxiliary staff shaken and traumatised.