Infant Security News
Dedicated to Preventing Infant
Abductions & Mother / Baby Mix-ups
|
Security
Assessments International 2405 Safety,
Security & Risk Management Consultants |
Routing: [ ] Facility Services [ ] Security Management [ ] Nursing Administration [ ] Risk Management
VOLUME II NUMBER III September, 2004
“Infant
Security News” is SAI’s quarterly newsletter dedicated to helping hospitals
provide protection for their youngest patients.
Each edition of this free newsletter will feature current infant
security events in the news, and each issue we’ll analyze an actual infant
abduction case. Cases will be analyzed
to determine how security was defeated and recommended preventive measures.
INFANT PROTECTION SYSTEMS FOR HOSPITALS
(How to select an Infant Security System)
The following information is designed to
assist individual hospitals in the purchase and operation of an Infant
Electronic Security System.
Introduction
Concerns about wandering
patients and infant abductions have been a common fear among hospital
administrators for some time. This
concern has created a renewed interest in electronic tracking of patients and
infants. Litigation continues to be
brought against hospitals and birthing centers because of inadequate protection
of infant abductions from hospitals. As
a result this phenomenon has sparked a myriad of manufacturers and vendors to
develop a variety of systems designed to foil abduction attempts and locate
wandering patients.
With the continuing increase in litigation
and the wrath of the Joint Commission, it becomes increasingly essential for
hospitals to offer state-of-the-art security protection for their mother/baby
units. New products continue to
proliferate making it increasingly difficult for administration, nursing, and
security management to select a system which provides the ultimate protection
as well as easy use, at a reasonable cost.
For the past 15 plus years I have followed
the creation, development, and marketing of many of these so-called
state-of-the-art systems. Several of the
infant protection systems on the market today have fallen far short of their
claims.
There are approximately 12 and 15
companies presently selling some type of infant security or wander prevention
systems to the healthcare industry. They
range from Fortune 500 companies to Mom and Pop type operations. Several of the systems currently on the
market are passive in design and can easily be defeated by simply shielding the
tag. Several of these companies have
taken electronic article surveillance products used in the retail industry to
deter “shoplifters” and have used the same technology to protect newborns in
the hospital setting. On a good day this
type of technology is only 70% effective.
How many times have you heard of someone you know taking clothes home
from a department store with the security tag still attached to the garment? It happens all the time.
Another
inherent problem with these electronic systems is the propensity they have for giving
false alarms. Although the marketing
material will tell you their system is immune from false alarms, many of my
clients continue to complain of consistently having to deal with false alarms.
Systems
that incorporate a “skin sensor” also present their own unique problems. The constant movement of the baby as well as
the band becoming loose can cause the connection to separate creating a false
alarm. Additionally, some manufacturers have
required the nursing unit to replace infant security tag batteries. This places a burden on an already over
worked nursing staff.
Additional issues of
concern:
1.
Some
vendors encourage hospital, in order to save money, to install the system themselves.
This is a bad idea because the manufacture can always come back and say the
product was not installed to the manufacturer’ specifications. This can also cause liability to transfer
from the manufacturer to the hospital.
2.
Quotations
may not include total labor or product cost such as wire and labor.
3.
The
quotation may not include a battery back-up UPS System without which vital
information can be lost. Alarm failure
may occur during a power outage.
4.
Electronic
noise interference can cause passive systems to lose battery power in the
infant tag by constantly activating the transponder/transmitter system. A transponder should only become active when
it enters an energy field created by an “Exciter Antenna”. The system should be able to filter out
extraneous noise.
5.
Some
systems battery power to their tag will prematurely deactivate the tag if the
band is removed from the infant for an extended period of time.
Here is a partial letter
from a Security Administrator at a major healthcare facility in
Jeff,
We met at the recent
I was very familiar with this company when it was
in business. The company’s primary
business was to the retail industry for the protection of products in the
department store setting. There was a
“Hold Harmless” clause in small print on the back of their sales invoice which
read:
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSED IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE
MERCHANDISE HEREIN, BUYER ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED OR STATUTORY HAS BEEN MADE BY SELLER, IN FACT OR IN LAW,
INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR THAT THE MERCHANDISE WHICH IS THE
SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT IS SUITABLE FOR ANY PARITCULAR USE OR PURPOSE. BUYER ASSUMES ALL RISKS AND LIABILITY
WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OF SUCH MATERIAL WHETHER USED SINGLY OR IN
COMBINATION WITH OUTHER EQUIPMENT SELLER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE.
The company was bought out by a Fortune 500 Company
that is one of the largest retail security companies in the world. This company marketed infant protections
systems across the
What
are some of the features and specification a hospital infant protection system
should provide for adequate protection?
♦ The receiving antenna should not be effected by antenna
orientation
♦ The system should have the capability to identify an infant
by name, room and tag I.D.
number, log events,
archive activities, and create reports.
♦ The system should have the capability
of self supervision and ability to visually identify any problems with the
system through trouble alarms.
♦ The infant band should be flexible and
made of a soft material to provide maximum comfort for the infant.
♦ The transmitter frequency should be
high enough not to be effected by electronic noise generated throughout the
hospital by electronic equipment used in patient care.
♦
♦ Should be a company that offers a PM
program with the product.
♦ Track history of strong customer support. (References Required)
♦ 1 Year Active Transmitter (transponders and passive tags
are unacceptable) Transmitter must be watertight if submerged for cleaning
♦ Transmitter must have expiration date permanently engraved
♦ Transmitter pulse rate must be at least 10 times per
second
♦ System must interface with electromagnetic locks,
elevators and paging systems, various nurse’s stations,
CCTV, RS-232 Port, and other devices that may be activated by dry contact.
♦ Cut band technology
♦ Computer interface with programmable entry codes
♦ Anti-tailgate feature with auto re-arm capability when
door closes
♦ System should have self-supervision capability
♦ Identify infants by name, room number, and tag
identification number
♦ Delayed egress capability
♦ Should provide continuous door status
♦ Perimeter alarm and elevator lockout capability
♦ Should have the ability to support
mother/baby matching
♦ System should contain a 12 hour full battery backup
♦ Control panel must know the time of day and be programmable
to lock and unlock doors at programmable times.
♦ Manufacture should carry products liability insurance
protection in the millions of dollars.
Some Client hospitals complaints:
● “We were forced to place additional infant tags on our infant
bassinets because the plastic sides of the crib prevent the infant’s tag from
being detected.
● “Although the marketing material claims an immunity to false
alarms, we are consistently have to deal with false alarms. The constant movement of the baby causes the
connection point to separate creating a false alarm.”
● The vendor’s sales approach is to “put
down” the competition and talk very little about their own technology.
● The vendor’s presentation is based on an
emotional sell to the hospital and uses questionable facts.
● The vendor incorrectly compared the
exposure of an infant RF transmitter to a cellular telephone. RF transmitters produce power that is so weak
it can be measured in millionths of a watt.
It is best
to form a committee from various disciplines and departments with in the
hospital. Listed here are some of the
evaluation criteria recommended for committee use.
VENDOR CONSIDERATIONS
- Customer service (local and national support)
- Financial stability
- Proven track record
- Bench marking ability
- Implementation strategies and proven abilities
- Quality management
- Legal
considerations
- Maintenance of systems
- Growth potential and adaptability
- On-going development and improvement
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- Scope of services
9. Proven applications
- Data collection and processing
capabilities 10.
Distributor relations
- Speed and performance 11. Ease of use
- System reliability 12. Report capabilities
- Security Assessments 13. Historical archive ability
- Support system 14. Warranty
- Receiving functions
- Information management
As I’m
sure you have heard before …”The proof is in the pudding”. Have the vendor furnish the names of at least
three hospitals where they have a system installed and call those hospitals get
their opinions on the reliability of the system. Ask the facility closest to you if you can
bring some of your staff to observe the system on site. You can learn a lot by talking with the end
users of the product and there is no one better way to learn the pro and cons
of a system you may be considering for your hospital.
Upon request from your facility, Security
Assessments will be glad to assist you in identifying and selecting the
appropriate system for your facility.
CASE STUDY #1006 Hospital Abduction
(Mother’s Room)
Type of Facility:
Victim Mother: Age 22
Victim Father: Age 24
Victim Baby: Age
1 Day Old Hispanic Male
Abductor / Suspect Age 21
Profile / MO: Impersonated a nurse by wearing hospital garb
Use a ruse to take the baby
Hand
carried the baby from the unit
Hospital
photo I.D. not visible
Had
previously visited the unit to better learn her escape route
“Kidnapping Prevented”
Woman poses as nurse to take infant from parents
Parents are not letting their one day old
baby boy out of their sight after their infant was nearly abducted by a woman
dressed as a nurse was almost successful in leaving hospital property after she
convinced the parents she was taking their baby to the nursery to take the
baby’s picture. The abductor was not
wearing a hospital photo I.D. The
parents were not aware their baby had been abducted until staff brought the
baby back after it was recovered. Law
Enforcement officers attribute the quick capture to the hospital’s security
system. Infants are protected by an
infant electronic tagging system as well as controlled access to the
Mother/Baby Unit.
The abductor was able to leave through and
alarming egress because it was only equipped to alarm, not lock. An alert employee heard the alarm and rushed
out the alarming exit where he saw the abductor carrying a baby in her arms and
was successful in recovering the baby even though the abductor walked off the
property. The abductor was spotted in a
department store by store security.
Police were notified and the suspect was arrested. The suspect matched the profile of a typical
abductor.
Contributing Factors / Vulnerabilities
(Changes from cases to case)
Impersonated a nurse wearing hospital garb
Fit typical abductor’s profile (pretended to be pregnant, prior
visits to the unit)
Lied to police
Emergency Egresses alarmed, but not locked
No closed circuit TV to capture the image of abductor to assist in
capture
Limited parent and family education
* PARENTAL EDUCATION (should be provided in writing, signed by the
mother)
As
a minimum the following information should be provided to new mothers:
1. Who would
kidnap a baby and why
2. History /
Background of Infant Abductions
3.
Psychological Profile and Modus Operandi of the Abductor
4. What Parents
need to do to keep their baby safe while in the hospital
5. How the
hospital helps the mother keep her baby safe
6. What the
mother needs to do after discharge
7. Protecting
your baby after returning home
NOTE: Consult with a Healthcare Security
Professional with expertise in infant and pediatric security to assist you and
your staff in developing the most effective and cost efficient security program
for your facility. SAI has written an
educational pamphlet – “Infant Security – How Parents Can
Help” designed to assist hospitals in educating new mothers and
their families, and meet Joint Commission requirements.
INFANT
ABDUCTIONS IN THE NEWS
Baby missing from hospital - -
Attempted Infant Abduction - - (
On-line
resources
Infant
Security: “How Parents Can Help”
http://www.saione.com/ispletter.htm
Birthing Center Assessment Outline (Sample)
http://www.saione.com/sampleassessment.htm
Vulnerability
Assessments
http://www.saione.com/services_vulnerability.htm
Future Newsletter Topics
Hospital Liability “When to hire a Security Expert”
Mother/Baby Mix-ups
“How to Prevent the Unthinkable”
Components of a
“Self-Assessment”
How to conduct a
successful “Code Pink”
Educating Employees and Staff
“Pros
& Cons of an Infant Protection System”
Fallacy
of Foot Printing – are they a "thing of the past?”
Mother/Baby
Mix-ups “How to Prevent the Unthinkable”
How
to select an Infant Security System
Disclaimer
Advice given in this "Newsletter" is
general in nature, and subscribers (readers of this material) should consult
with professional counsel for specific legal, ethical, or clinical advice. The information
provided in the SAI Newsletters is for educational purposes only and
should not be considered 'legal' advice. Websites listed are for
reference only and are provided for subscribers (readers of the material) to
have an opportunity to read the original documents in total. Please
consult your legal counsel or Compliance Officer for clarification of laws and
rules related to your State when applicable.
SAI
is not affiliated with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations.
SAI - ©September, 2004
