Keeping Tabs on Babies
New infant-abduction prevention system offers security to parents

 

New infant security features give parents Veronica Martínez and Jorge Díaz added comfort knowing their 10-day-old Jorge Armando Díaz Jr. is safe.

Snug in their blankets, newborn babies in LBJ and Ben Taub hospital nurseries lie in their bassinets. Some sleep, while others cry.

Helping to keep them secure is a new system to prevent infant abductions when babies are taken from “safe zone” perimeters. The system sounds an alarm and locks stairwells and elevators.

The Hospital District has never experienced an infant abduction. However, several false alarm situations have occurred. The new $100,000 security system with many high-tech security features should keep that record intact.

About 10,600 babies from Harris County started their lives at either LBJ or Ben Taub last year.

“We care about the safety of our children,” said William Jackson, Director of Department of Public Safety. “Three years ago, we committed to installing the infant-abduction prevention system to add further protection to the safety measures HCHD has in place.”

In the delivery room, a tamper-resistant tag weighing 1.3 ounces and encoded with a unique ID number is placed immediately on a baby’s ankle. The system tracks infants by emitting a “heartbeat” or radio pulse every 10 seconds.

An alarm is activated when the tag is improperly removed or cut, or the baby is taken beyond “safe zones” set by security. The activation shuts down elevators and secures stairwells.

“If an alarm goes off, security forces can find the exact location of the baby through computer displays of hospital floor plans,” Jackson said. “They’re also able to identify which baby is missing by the tag number.”

Babies who leave the nursery for tests are “signed out” by a nurse. Staff enters a password on a keypad, the baby’s tag number and the duration the baby will be gone.

“Before, when a baby is taken out of the nursery, a nurse always accompanies him and writes down where the baby is,” said Moranda Dansby, Director of Women and Infant Services at LBJ. “With the new system, it’s all about technology and giving parents a sense of ease.”

In the future Jackson hopes to expand the system.

“As our needs increase, we want to be able to grow,” Jackson said. “We’ll be able to add more gadgets, add locks to the stairwells and an audio mechanism that says, ‘You’re in a safe zone’ when an abductor is close to the elevators.”

The system tracks the baby’s entire visit by recording all activity with time and date information, which can be displayed and printed.