The PSNI has said a man held in connection with an attack on a policewoman in her fifties has been placed in secure accommodation under the Mental Health Order.
A spokesman added: "Detectives investigating the incident are liaisingclosely with medical professionals while the man is being assessed."
A spokeswoman for the Royal Victoria Hospital said the policewoman, who isfrom the Lisburn area, remained critically ill tonight.
Police confirmed that a man was likely to face charges in connection with theattack.
The attacker - a 31-year-old man, believed to be from Kildare - had earlier been questioned by detectives after claiming he was in fear of his life.
Superintendent Gerald Murray said police had not yet established how the man got through a security door and into the room where he commited the unprovoked attack on the married mother of three about the head, nor where he obtained the iron bar.
Chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board Professor Desmond Rea has asked the Chief Constable to provide a full report on the incident.
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to wish both officers a speedy recovery, but our thoughts are particularly with the female officer who remains critical in hospital," he said.
Two male officers were also hurt when they confronted the man in a corridor outside the room at the station in Lisburn, Co Antrim.
A constable needed eight stitches in a head wound, while a sergeant suffered bruising to his wrist.
Supt Murray said the assailant was picked up by an ambulance from a diner on the A1 motorway just outside Lisburn last night.
He was then taken to Lagan Valley Hospital where he requested police assistance, claiming he was in fear of his life.
A detective sergeant attended the hospital and took the man voluntarily to Lisburn police station where he sat for three to four hours drinking coffee and tea before making his way to the private area of the building when the public inquiry desk was not attended.
Supt Murray denied security at the station was lax.
"This man came for our help and our aid. This was an unforeseen attack but police stations are like any other building, they are secure but there's no such thing as 100 per cent security," he said.
Ms Patricia Lewsley, an SDLP councillor, condemned the attack on an officer she had spoken to just hours before the incident.
"I was talking to this officer about a sectarian attack in Dunmurry just before this happened to her so I'm doubly shocked by this incident," she said. "My thoughts are with her family and I wish her a speedy recovery.
Ulster Unionist councillor Mr Ivan Davis also condemned the attack. "Any action like this has to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I hope the police will take whatever action they need to".