A newborn wearing an
RFID monitoring bracelet
Photo: courtesy XMark
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The abduction of a baby girl from
the maternity ward at Sudbury Regional Hospital has
prompted the hospital to invest in an electronic infant
monitoring bracelet system.
The baby was abducted on November
1 and found unharmed later the same day in Kirkland
Lake, about 300 kilometres north of Sudbury. The abductor,
29-year-old Brenda Batisse, nabbed the baby from the
nursery and walked out carrying her wrapped in a white
blanket. She was wearing hospital scrubs and no one
stopped her.
Hospital CEO Vickie Kaminski announced
on November 13 that, before the end of the year, Sudbury
Regional will join the many hospitals across Canada
using an infant-tagging system. The hospital is currently
in negotiations with XMark, a company that makes an
infant protection system called Hugs.
"The primary purpose of the Hugs
bracelet is to make sure that we don't have abductions
like the one in Sudbury ever happen," says XMark spokesperson
Dianne Hosson. "One abduction is too many."
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How baby bracelet monitoring
works
Right after the baby is born,
the RFID (radio frequency identification) bracelet
is attached to their ankle, usually in the delivery
room. The bracelet is monitored by a network of
sensors wired into the maternity department ceiling
and linked to a central computer. If the tag is
brought too close to an exit, alarms will sound,
doors will lock and elevators will be shut off.
If anyone tries to tamper with the tag, like trying
to cut it off the baby, staff and security will
be notified through their pagers and overhead
speakers.
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WINDSOR'S
LESSON
That's what Windsor Regional Hospital officials thought.
In 2004, a sick, one-day-old baby was taken from the
hospital, smuggled out of the ward in a duffle bag by
his mother without permission from the hospital. An
Amber Alert was issued and the father returned the baby
within 48 hours. Though the baby was unharmed, this
incident led the hospital to instal a Hugs bracelet
system.
"It's worked very well. It really
alerts us to anyone attempting to take an infant anywhere,"
says Windsor Regional spokesperson Ron Foster. "Occasionally
we have false alarms when a child goes wandering, but
we haven't had any other issues."
But peace of mind doesn't come
cheap, notes Mr Foster. Though prices vary depending
on the size of the ward, the system at Windsor cost
around $150,000. Mr Foster said that this was paid for
largely by donations from the community.
But the benefits of having this
monitoring system go far beyond an alarm system, insists
Ms Hosson. "Having some of these systems in place, want
it or not, heightens awareness and heightens staff training
as to the overall protection plan that they have within
their OB units," she says. "Infant protection is bigger
than the products we sell and we are never in any way
going to replace the vigilance of staff and the awareness
of parents. This system just helps them do their jobs."
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