Lakewood, NJ +Nursing Home Evacuated+

LAKEWOOD — Although the evacuation of more than 330 residents from the Leisure Park assisted-living facility because of a bomb threat Wednesday morning was orderly, it was not without serious consequences for some individuals.
“Paramedic! We need a paramedic here! We have a seizure here!” shouted an employee from a cluster of emergency response workers who were caring for a patient who was on the ground.
Nursing home, assisted-living and independent residents of the facility at 1400 Route 70 were wearing pink tablecloths and plastic trash bags to keep dry from the rain. They were in line waiting to get onto a bus bound for a temporary shelter when one fell. A minute later the same worker called for another paramedic because a second resident suffered “a gash.”
Those with serious medical needs were taken to hospitals and other nursing homes. The staff worked with ambulance crews to get the bedridden patients aboard.
Meanwhile, 15 bomb-sniffing dogs were used to make sure the threat — received at 8:14 a.m. — was not real. After a more-than-three-hour search, nothing suspicious was found.
First-degree offense
“I just can’t imagine someone calling in a bomb threat to cause this kind of inconvenience to elderly and sick people,” Police Chief Robert C. Lawson said. “It is just hard to fathom that somebody could do that.”
The caller of the empty threat could face up to 25 years in prison for a first-degree crime of creating a false public alarm, authorities said.
“If someone is in a nursing home and a bomb threat is called in, and one of the people gets hurt or dies, it could be prosecuted as first-degree,” said Capt. Jeff Harper of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, who consulted with William Heisler, executive assistant prosecutor.
“We are aggressively pursuing this investigation and have several leads,” Lawson said. “Even though the evacuation was orderly, one person was bleeding, another had a panic attack and another person” suffered a possible minor stroke during the process.
Nonetheless, the evacuation was a success, said Sgt. First Class Rudolph Manz of the State Police Special Operations Incident Management Unit.
Manz was called as part of the emergency management plan because a lane on Route 70 was closed to accommodate the evacuation. Manz deployed state Department of Transportation employees to assist.
Lakewood police Capt. Gregory Miick said Carolyn Kirk, a receptionist at Leisure Park, took the call. The male caller, in a brief conversation, said there was a bomb in the building, Miick said.
Steven Schwartz, executive director of the facility, said the decision was made to evacuate.
“We went into our normal procedure for emergency planning, which was in place,” Schwartz said.
Dogs and birthdays
Lee Flatt, 65, left her dog, Belle, behind in her assisted living apartment when she was evacuated. A worker, Cheryl Scudera, went back inside and retrieved Belle.
The small dog sat on Flatt’s scooter outside.
“I think it is the neatest thing that she did that for me,” Flatt said.
Scudera helped evacuate other residents who were just waking up or still sleeping while retrieving the dog.
Madeline Parry, 79, was sitting out front with her 5-year-old dog, Maggie. Parry said she was all right, but wanted coffee.
Edward Bescript said the incident was spoiling his 83rd birthday. He had hoped it would not prevent his family from coming to take him out for the day.
Also disappointed was Ruth Hale, who missed her chance to go out in a limousine, get a makeover and have a photo shoot and lunch in preparation for her 107th birthday on July 10, said Jill Owen, a nursing home worker who had helped plan Hale’s special day.
“She wanted to get pictures taken for her family to give them on her birthday,” Owen said.
Many residents were evacuated to Lake Terrace, a plush banquet facility in Lakewood Industrial Park, where Greenwald Catering provided food and drinks for the evacuees, Lawson said.
The chief expressed gratitude to Shlomo Chaim Kanarek, the banquet facility owner, and said Rabbi Moshe Dovid Ehrman “was extremely helpful in getting things organized” for using the facility.
Miick said that Leisure Park residents were allowed to return about 11:45 a.m.

WAS A BOMB SCARE !!