15 August 2005
Suspicious parcel at Hospital correctly handled
At about 10am this morning 15 August, Police were called to Christchurch Women's Hospital where a suspicious package had been found in a patient's room on the 5th floor. All patients were evacuated from the 5th floor and a police explosives detector dog handler examined the package. He found that it was harmless.
At this stage there is nothing to indicate that there are any sinister connotations in connection with the package.
Senior Sergeant Gordon SPITE said that he was very impressed with the actions of the Hospital staff who correctly treated the package as suspicious and took steps to ensure patients and staff were safe and advised of what was occurring.
"Communication is always difficult in these situations because of the number of people involved and the complexity of the site. I would like to commend the hospital staff for their organisational skills and the good job they did."