The British bomb squad has exploded two suspicious devices found at a hospital where one of the Glasgow Airport terror suspects was taken to be treated for severe burns. CNN reports that a CNN news crew, stationed at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Scotland, "heard two blasts, which occurred about an hour after a bomb disposal truck was spotted outside the medical facility." Yesterday, British police exploded a car parked on hospital grounds.

One question looms large: did terrorists plan to explode a secondary bomb at the hospital? A secondary attack at a hospital would seriously impede efforts to deal with victims coming to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in the first attack. This would advance the usual terrorist practice (and Hezbollah hallmark) of setting off a second bomb at the location of the carnage some minutes after the first, specifically aimed at killing first responders. Three Muslim doctors are now among the suspects being held in the British terror plots that were meant to kill hundreds of people. At least one of those terror suspects worked as a doctor at Royal Alexandra Hospital.

"You put a small device in a hospital or school and you've got instant worldwide attention," Stephen Gaunt, director of security at a large metropolitan hospital on the East Coast (of America), is quoted as saying in the hospital trade publication, Healthcare Risk Management.

Indeed, on this side of the pond, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been issuing warnings that terrorists could be targeting hospitals going back at least several years. The Aviation Nation has reviewed a DHS bulletin from 2005:

The bulletin was prepared by the Office of Counter-Terrorism in New Jersey and disseminated by the Office of the Attorney General. It warns that impostors posing as health care officials, doctors and government officials, have repeatedly tried to gain access to hospitals in New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio. From the DHS bulletin:

• On Feb. 26, 2005, at approximately 3 a.m., a Caucasian man and Caucasian woman posing as JCAHO [Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations] surveyors arrived at a Los Angeles hospital. The man is described as mid-30s, dark hair, approximately 6-feet tall, and dressed professionally. The woman, also in her mid-30s, has dark reddish hair. A security guard at the hospital believed he saw the two individuals wearing badges similar to those used by genuine JCAHO surveyors. The impostors exited after they were stopped by hospital security.
• In the second incident, on March 3, 2005, at 3 a.m., a man described as 35-40 years old, of South Asian descent, 6-feet tall, and with a short black beard and mustache, demanded to inspect a medical facility in Boston. The man left the premises after being questioned by hospital staff.In the third incident, in the morning of March 10, 2005, a Caucasian woman described as mid-40s, 5-feet 7-inches tall, 160 pounds, with blonde hair, entered a Detroit hospital through the maternity ward and began wandering around the facility. When hospital staff questioned her, she stated that she was a JCAHO surveyor. After further questioning, she fled the premises.
• On Feb. 7, 2005, at approximately 10 a.m., two individuals who identified themselves as special agents representing the Department of Defense and the CIA entered the emergency room at Middletown Regional Hospital, NY. The subjects requested to see the charge nurse and presented identification badges. They asked the nurse a series of questions concerning capacity for cardiac care, trauma care, heliport, and private rooms. As the hospital staff’s suspicion of the subjects increased, they left the building. The hospital staff did collect a business card from one of the subjects, and it appeared to be fraudulent.

Further Reading: Watch For Impostors, Homeland Security Warns City Hospitals (The New York Sun)

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