The evacuation did not reach the most seriously ill patients or those with reduced mobility, although it did reach their companions
The National Police has evicted on the night of this Wednesday, partially, the Central University Hospital of Asturias (HUCA) due to a bomb threat made by phone call at 10:15 p.m. from a telephone with a hidden number and that it was “taken seriously” by the security forces and bodies, despite the fact that they gave it “little veracity.” In any case, members of the Tedax (Technical Specialist in Deactivation of Explosive Devices) and canine units specialized in detecting explosives proceeded to carry out the appropriate checks within the sanitary complex.
It was around half past eleven at night when the partial evacuation of HUCA began, which in principle would have been limited to the Emergency Department and the waiting rooms; and to patients with mild or no mobility problems. Sources from the Ministry of Health stressed that the patients who have been evacuated from the ER have been referred to other hospitals, as have those who arrived after the threat.
The evacuation did not reach the most seriously ill patients or those with reduced mobility, although it did reach their companions. “I am on duty, I have kept the minimum staff,” a doctor in charge of a sensitive service at the Hospital recounted last night. While the minimum essential personnel cared for the patients who could not be evacuated, agents of the National Police, including some canine units, began to comb the ER looking for a possible explosive device. Outside, health workers, patients and relatives took refuge in the entrances to the parking lots, while they waited for the outcome of the threat.
The SESPA manager, Conchita Saavedra, and her entire team went to the emergency room door. “The planned protocols are being developed,” he explained to LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, from the Prensa Ibérica group. President Barbón sent a message of “tranquility and calm” after midnight.
I want to send a message of tranquility and calm due to the news coming from HUCA.
The State Security Corps and Forces and their specialized services are currently working. It will act in accordance with their indications and recommendations.
— 🌹 Adrian Barbón 💙💛 (@AdrianBarbon) May 10, 2023
The Asturian health authorities have wanted to launch a reassurance message and they assure that they have set up a telephone service team to answer the calls of concern from the relatives of the patients admitted to the HUCA. In this sense, sources from the Ministry of Health request that the telephone services of 112 be used, where information on the development of the eviction can be provided, although no clinical information on any patient can be provided. In addition, Sespa has lowered the emergency pressure, both in mild cases and in family members, through 112, by referring patients to other health facilities.
Minutes after one in the morning, the Sespa manager announced that The access of patients to the Emergency area is normalized of the HUCA. The relatives of the sick have entered the waiting room again. “It has been verified that the nine hospitalization floors and the emergency area are clean. Now other areas of the hospital are being inspected,” said Conchita Saavedra.
Some 6,400 people work at HUCA. The health complex is equipped with nearly a thousand beds.