Hospital evacuation after bomb threat - Experiences of a 500 bed hospital

The terrorism threat in Germany should no longer be considered a simply abstract or theoretical danger. Hospitals are an integral component of the "critical infrastructure" of a country, and as such are a potential target for terrorist attacks. This means that they need to prepare themselves against such an eventuality by individual risk management tested on the basis of emergency exercises. The present article describes and critically discusses the practical implementation of an emergency evacuation of a 500-bed hospital in response to a bomb threat.