Posted on 10/05/2004 8:17:44 AM PDT by locochupacabra
My wife is an RN at a hospital in Illinois. Yesterday, she told me that her hospital received a terror alert.
Apparently, some men of Middle Eastern descent (go figure) have been staking out Chicagoland hospitals, asking strange questions, taking pictures, and appearing and disappearing at different locations. When asked for ID, they respond that they're either residents or visitors and then quickly leave. They even tried bribing a guard for a wheelchair.
Now, all the hospitals in the state are on alert.
Anyone out there in FRland know anything more about this?
Thanks for posting this. Please keep us updated.
Hospitals in Chicago on alert?
Apparently all over the state. I'm nowhere near Chicago.
We ought to start arming Nurses. They usually run the places anyhow.
And lab techs - my brother is one :) - they wouldn't be quesy about using it.
...It is worth noting that some of the terrorists captured have turned out to be physicians.
Illinois is not far from Michigan.
There are helicopters at many hospitals.
Pali terrorists have started trying to make use of ambulances.
Teaching hospitals have auditoriums with meetings of large numbers of personnel.
Still, other targets would be easier and more effective.
Has it crossed anyone's mind that just making themselves apparent, then disappearing, is a kind of terror in and of itself?
Heads up
But, you could infect a lot of people who would go back into the community and infect others.
OR, you could incapacitate all the regional hospitals before a terror attack so there are few to no services available for the injured.
OR, you could have a hostage situation like Beslen.
They are probably looking for radioactive material to make a dirty bomb out of.
Hospitals are the very place in a small community that is already being trained (via mock-catastrophe drills) to deal with terrorism. There are even conferences specializing in scenarios available as "continuing medical education"--CME.
At this point your guesses are as good as any. I have no clue about what is going on, but I do know this: something is going on, and it's affecting all the hospitals in Illinois.
Could be anything, could even be a training drill for all I know. But, (in the words of Tony Soprano) irregardless, something is going on, and I hope that FRland can help figure that out.
Thanks for the ping, Kyla.
Locochupacabra: What area of "Chicagoland" are we talking? Where does your wife work?
I too am an RN in Illinois. While I don't work at a hospital, I interact with north suburban hospitals pretty much on a daily basis.
I just made a few calls and nobody has heard a thing about this.
Please keep us upadated--ping me.
I would consider this news--even front page news.
Someone posted a thread last week, I think about a similar situation.....it was pulled very quickly. Brother in law just started working security at a hospital in another state. Says they are on high alert. Hope all is well.
That I don't know. All she said was hospitals up north in the Chicago area.
Where does your wife work?
Central Illinois.
And some of the patients. The if they're scared of lawsuits, the Hospital Administrator could also carry a "throw down".
So are the Orange, Yellow and Red alerts.
I've a good idea of the area you live in.
Peoria, Champaign and Springfield have been identified as part of the underground route for the terrorists to move through.
Champaign in particular, due to the U of I.
Stay safe!
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