The Dane County Bomb Squad responded to a threat on the University of Wisconsin Hospital Wednesday afternoon, determining that there were no explosive devices planted in the building.

At around 1:15 p.m. an unidentified male called an employee of the city who was working at the City-County Building. The caller said there was a bomb in the UW Hospital and that it would explode within one hour. The man called back about six minutes later and said he had been in contact with governmental agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and State Department.

However, the chief of UW Police said police were skeptical of his claims.

“We think that he was not in contact with those agencies and it was part of the ruse,” said Chief Susan Riseling.

When UW Police officers responded to the threat, they found a suspicious package in the second-floor lobby. Riseling said that when police handle a bomb threat, they look for any objects seemingly out of place and bring in a bomb-sniffing dog that is led on a patterned search of the area. If the dog points to the same object twice, the bomb squad is called in.

In this case, police secured the area and set up an evacuated perimeter within the building. The bomb squad’s dog led the way to a suspicious-looking bag inside a recycling bin.

“In the end, the contents consisted of a very elaborate arm sling,” Riseling said. The recycling bin was specifically designed with a slot for depositing aluminum cans, so whoever left the sling had to have removed the whole lid of the bin.

“We don’t think the person who called and left the threat had anything to do with the sling,” Riseling said, adding that a patient probably trashed the device on the way out of the hospital.

UW Police are still investigating the threat.