Safe or Sorry?

The article below is of particular relevance to those involved in the security whether it be policing, guarding or looking after business premises. With the increased public awareness of suspicious packages, parcels and bags that has arisen in the aftermath of the recent London bombings, it is natural for us to question to what extent security awareness becomes overreaction.

In this case the bag was x-rayed and revealed wiring which prompted the bomb squad to be called. Despite this the incident later proved to be a false alarm and questions were asked about the need for such a response. Surely it is better to err on the side of caution and x-ray check suspicious bags rather than worrying about being "the boy that cried wolf" and doing nothing. Far better to x-ray at the cost of some disruption whilst keeping everyone safe rather than keeping transport and business flowing with the potential cost of lives?

Like the public service message says, “We can be afraid or we can be ready. Be ready.”

Duffel bag or bomb? Better to be safe than not

If you were near Holy Family Memorial Medical Center Thursday evening, you probably thought some horrific tragedy was in the making.

If you had business at the hospital or wanted to visit someone there, you may have found it inconvenient to get into the facility.

If you were in the hospital and wanted to leave, officials may have invited you to sit down for some refreshments because your exit was not available at the moment.

The cause of all this commotion? A black duffel bag left unattended near the main entrance. A volunteer discovered the errant bag around 5:30 p.m. and hospital policy dictated a call to the police. Public safety officials determined the bag was suspicious enough to call in the bomb squad from Brown County.

Meantime, multiple police and sheriff vehicles as well as fire and ambulance units blocked a large area on the west side of the hospital. The re-routed traffic and show of force brought out a large crowd from the surrounding neighborhoods and, undoubtedly, many others.

The bag was X-rayed, which revealed wires and what appeared to be electronic equipment. Before the bomb squad could attempt to detonate the bag, the owner returned and explained it contained a medical device.

An exciting evening came to a “much ado about nothing” ending by 10 p.m.

By 10:05 p.m., the second-guessers were asking why the extraordinary show of police and fire personnel. Surely, this could have been handled with fewer personnel and without the Brown County Bomb Squad. After all, it was just a duffel bag full of medical equipment. What a waste of tax dollars.

Our hindsight is 20-20 also, but it wasn’t working when public safety officials faced the unknown on Thursday evening – the same day terrorists’ bombs struck London. These are the same officials, by the way, who must respond to every alarm, no matter how dubious, as if it were the real thing, because they never know if it will be the real thing.

Just last week in Two Rivers, it was the real thing. Someone threw a pipe bomb into a field and the fuse started a fire.

Fortunately, the person who made the bomb was as inept as he or she was irresponsible because the bomb did not explode while firefighters were putting out the blaze. No one was hurt.

Manitowoc is probably not in al-Qaida’s bull’s-eye, but that doesn’t mean we are exempt from bad things happening.

Was it an over-reaction on the part of public safety officials? Could the three and one-half hour drama have been prevented by a different approach? We’ll leave that to whatever self-reviews the police and fire departments conduct.

With the news from London fresh in everyone’s mind, the scene at Holy Family Memorial Thursday was a chilling reminder that emergencies happen everywhere. What can you do? Follow some common sense guidelines and we’ll all feel safer:

Herald Times Reporter

Scantrak portable x-ray equipment - for unattended parcels, packages and bags