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for larger version       State-Of-The-Art Infant Security At St. John’s St. John’s Episcopal Hospital recently announced its new infant security system, which was obtained with a grant provided by Roslyn Savings Foundation. St. John’s system is specifically designed to prevent the abduction of a child from the maternity unit while allowing the area to remain open to staff, parents and visitors. The system alerts the staff of any attempted unauthorized exit of an infant via an alarmed band transmitter. Immediately after the baby is born an identification band is placed on the baby’s ankle. Any attempt to remove the transmitter from the infant, except by authorized personnel, initiates an alarm. A control unit in the nurses’ station is activated by a signal from the band when an individual carrying an infant approaches monitored doors. The alarm activates doors leading out of the protected area to close automatically as it alerts to a possible incident. According to Rona Schlau, director, Patient Care Services, Maternal/Child Health, St. John’s delivers more than 1,000 babies every year. To safeguard newborn infants the hospital has introduced a comprehensive program of healthcare policy, education of and teamwork by nursing, parents, security and risk management in the coordination of various elements of the newborn infant security system. "Our maternity services have public access and we want parents and visitors to be able to come and go, but the floor has to be security sensitive. An infant can’t tell you that anything has gone wrong, so it’s up to us to protect the innocent from unauthorized movement. We addressed the problem by designing a system that allows the staff to function as usual and still provide infant protection."
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