Posted on 05/05/2005 7:06:20 AM PDT by Irontank
Imagine - people posing as doctors and inspectors, just walking into a hospital and demanding information and patient records. Now the Department of Homeland Security is taking action.
The last two hospitals where it happened were in Newton and New Brunswick, New Jersey.
This really has federal authorities puzzled - intruders masquerading as doctors and inspectors probing hospital security. But there is no evidence the cases are connected, including two in New Jersey. Hospital officials and security experts say the similarities are disturbing.
It happened on Easter Sunday. Three men of middle-eastern descent entered a Sussex County hospital posing as physicians.
Dennis Collette, Newton Memorial Hospital President: "They said they were physicians and wanted a tour of hospital and wanted information about hospital, bed capacity, and wanted a tour of the emergency department."
Two days later, a man and woman walked into the emergency room at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, also requesting a tour.
Similar suspicious activity at hospitals in Boston, Detroit and Indiana prompted the Department of Homeland Security to issue a alert. It warns about intruders posing as hospital inspectors and doctors trying to gain information.
The use of false credentials to gain entry into hospitals is not new and is often done to get drugs or medical supplies. But the Department of Homeland Security says these recent events are different because of the number of similar incidents over a short period of time.
William Daly, Control Risks: "That's the most troubling thing, they're more sophisticated."
This former FBI counter-terrorism expert says these cases have all the markings of classic reconnaissance.
William Daly: "It seems to be almost looking to see how much information they can get how much information is available, what is out there, what people's response will be and they all seem to fade off before anyone's able to get authorities or get these people taken in for questioning."
The Department of Homeland Security's bulletin stresses it has no direct threat information related to hospitals. Security experts caution that these cases of fake physicians and inspectors could just be coincidental, however bold and bizarre.
Dennis Collette: "It is unusual for three people to come claim to be doctors on an Easter Sunday and ask for a tour."
The identity of these intruders remain unknown. We do know that security cameras at the Newton Hospital did capture video of the three men pretending to be doctors. That tape is now in the hands of the FBI.
Dennis Collette, Newton Memorial Hospital President: "They said they were physicians and wanted a tour of hospital and wanted information about hospital, bed capacity, and wanted a tour of the emergency department."
This former FBI counter-terrorism expert says these cases have all the markings of classic reconnaissance.
Very unsettling...I remember reading a report last year that the Department of Homeland Security was concerned about terrorists launching a large-scle attack followed up by attacks on hospitals. We can never get complacent...these scum are biding their time...hoping we let down our guard
Many hospitals, especially those that treat cancer, have radio active material and don't have the extreme security that nuke plants have.
ping
Amazing how Belin went off the radar, and it hasn't even been a year...
>>>>Two days later, a man and woman walked into the emergency room at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, also requesting a tour.
Great....my kids school is right across the street from the emergency room entrance.
If this was during school hours, I hope to God they would put the school in lock down.
. . .and . . .they called to verify their credentials. . .then sent them home. . .or they did not 'verifiy'. . .and gave these MidleEastern physician-impostors a tour. (???) What!?
Hhmmm...implications are unsettling.
RWJ ping.
WOW! I know you will be keeping an eye on this story. This is very disturbing to say the least....
yep...not good...I live in Sussex County...I was initially wondering what middle eastern terrorists would be doing in Newton...what is really still just a small country hospital
But I do remember hearing that Newton (and probably RWJ) would take spill-over cases in the event of a massive attack in NYC (either from NY itself or from NJ areas closer to the city that would have to handle casualties from the city
Beslan
LOL! They'd get more material by snatching all of the old clocks and watches from an antique store and scraping the radium off of the faces and hands.
Which reminds me of those self-righteous burgs I've seen that have a sign at the city limits touting the place as a "Nuclear-free Zone". I always note that they never get around to forcing local dentists to move out of town, nor have they bothered to shut down the radiology lab at the local hospital. Yeah, they crash on GWB 'cuz he can't pronounce "nuclear" (it's mostly "newkyeler" or "newkeyler"), but they don't even know what it means.
Did this type of thing also get reported last fall?
Forget nuke stuff.
Multiple coordinated terorist attacks on hospitals.
It's much easier to get into a hospital than a school these days.
"Great....my kids school is right across the street from the emergency room entrance. "
If they walked into Old Bridge Regional no one would know the difference.
We just had mock terror drill. In an initial goof, RWJ lost 3,000 patients (mock) with the plague. In the end, I think NJ lost 10,000 due to that goof. Glad they had the drill. I feel much safer.
Put on a long white lab coat, drape a stethoscope around your neck, and go visit the patients.
If this had been me, these people would have NEVER been allowed to leave the hospital, security would have been on them like white on rice.
Good catch! On the surface one might ask, why a hospital, as opposed to any other facility or office building with a lot of employees, tenants or visitors. In addition to radioactive material (i.e. dirty bomb material) hospitals also have bacterial cultures (biological warfare), poisonous material and drugs.
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