FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fort Lauderdale police were investigating Thursday after they said a bomb threat was made against Broward Health Medical Center.
"Basically, we were alerted through the nurse that there was a bomb scare and that we had to evacuate to the lobby," Cheri Buckley, who was inside the hospital at the time, said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials confirmed that a suspicious package was found outside the hospital on Andrews Avenue.
The hospital was placed on lockdown.
"They were gonna send SWAT and a bomb team through the hospital, room-by-room, to determine whether or not there was a bomb," Buckley said.
Buckley said she was stuck inside the hospital for more than an hour and a half before she found another way out from a different floor.
Local 10 News reporter Ian Margol said the scene was clearing shortly after 2 p.m.
Buckley said people inside the hospital seemed concerned about the threat, but weren't too nervous.
"Nobody seems to know what is going on," she said. "Most people who have been through it before seem like it's an everyday thing because, thankfully, there's never been a real bomb."
It's unclear what was inside the suspicious package, but authorities said the contents were not a threat to the safety of those in the area.
Still, Buckley said Thursday's incident served as a sobering warning.
"I'm scared for everybody, as well as myself, because you don't know what crazy person is hiding out there that wants to do harm to people," she said.
All roadways in the area have since reopened.