Fake Bomb Alerts in Bucharest Hospitals

A few fake bomb calls alerted the Bucharest Police Department and the Anti-terrorist Squad from the Romanian Intelligence Service. The e-mails received by hospital managers mentioned five hospitals in Bucharest and the Ministry of Health, locations where “lots of people would die.”

After rigorous checking, the specialists labelled the alerts false, and everything returned to normal.

A week ago, other bomb threats in Bucharest proved fake. At that time, the National Museum of History and the Court of Appeal.

Specialists justify these threats with the national rage against doctors after a pregnant woman in North Romania was refused to be checked and treated by the medical staff, even though her baby died inside her womb and she couldn’t breathe. Later, it was revealed that she suffered from pulmonary edema, but no doctors considered the situation an emergency.

Earlier this month, another pregnant woman refused to be admitted to the hospital and gave birth on the pavement in front of the building.

The population sees this news and acts accordingly. Some protest in front of the Ministry of Health, others call and say they planted bombs inside hospitals. There is no other explanation behind these fake threats.

The real problem is – can any Minister of Health save the public medical system in Romania from collapsing? We sort of doubt that – the problems are deep within the system, and it’s a matter of attitude towards the people whose lives these doctors swore to protect. In one case, all the doctors were sleeping, and the nurses didn’t dare to wake them up. So, it’s about the attitude and professionalism that govern the interactions at work, which is missing in Romania.

Apart from that, the quality of the medical units influences the medical act. And here we talk about public investments in hospitals and regional centers.

It’s definitory that in Romania, some NGOs collect money from the population and donors to build public hospitals with private funds. And this tells us the whole story about the condition of the medical system in the country.