A bomb scare interrupted morning routines at the UCLA Medical
Plaza shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, but investigations yielded
evidence of marijuana rather than explosives.
An announcement on the PA system instructed people inside the
100, 200 and 300 buildings of the medical plaza to evacuate
immediately after instructions given by the building manager,
according to university police.
UCPD said a relative of a patient at the medical plaza notified
hospital security about a “suspicious package” ““
a book with all its pages torn out.
Hospital security contacted UCPD, which then contacted the Los
Angeles Police Department. UCPD said the LAPD bomb squad arrived on
scene, and upon further investigation the hollowed-out book was
found to be filled with marijuana.
Yvonne Golomb, a sixth-floor sonographer at the medical plaza,
was looking out of her window at about 9:30 a.m. when she noticed
irregular activities taking place outside.
“Caution tape was being put up, and no one seemed to know
why,” Golomb said.
The event was unusual, Golomb said, and she was soon after asked
to leave the building.
“We’ve always only had planned fire drills until
now,” Golomb said.
The drills appear to have worked well, according to Darnell
Harness, also a sixth-floor sonographer.
“It was an orderly evacuation; there was no pushing or
shoving,” Harness said.
Golomb added that her unit had fully evacuated the building five
minutes after the request to leave the building aired over the
announcement system. Because the medical plaza caters to the needs
of outpatients, all were able to leave the building in a timely
fashion, Harness said.
Despite the smoothness of the evacuation, he added that there
was still frustration as tight schedules were disrupted and crowds
were forced to stand on Westwood Boulevard outside the plaza for
about 40 minutes.
“Everyone had just gotten to work and settled in,”
Harness said.
In a typical day, sonographers see patients every 15 minutes,
Golomb said, and these patients expect to be treated quickly.
“People were just being sent away and traffic was backed
up,” Golomb said.
Harness added that the delay in treatment was especially
inconvenient for nuclear medicine patients who cannot eat until
after certain tests are completed.
According to UCPD, the caution tape came down around 10:20 a.m.
and people were allowed to continue with their tasks. But the mood
was slightly altered by the bomb scare ““ people were reminded
of their vulnerability.
“In the environment we live in today, you never want to
take a chance,” Harness said. “You must err on the side
of caution.”