Hospital Infant Security Systems

[BABYRN916]

Our hospital is looking at installing an infant security system. We are going from a system where we use only staff and surveillance cameras, and practice our infant abduction drills regularly. I was wondering if anyone had any comments to share about the infant security system they currently have in place? Does anyone have a system they really like, or one that they wish they didn't have? We would like to purchase a system pretty quickly, and want to make the best decision we can! Thanks!

[ckonicek]

Yeah, its surprising how many facilities don't have anything in place. There was actually a recent attempted abduction @ Duke hospital where an infant protection system with CCTV integration prevented it.

[DebblesRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

We use Hugs where I work, and I think it is a good system. Whenever a baby is tagged in L&D, the Hugs System plays a lullaby, so we know in the nursery we will be getting a baby in an hour.

The bands can get kinda stinky sometimes, but like another poster said, you can always suspend the system and change the band.

It alerts when someone is trying to remove a tag with "tamper alarm" announced overhead, when a tag is too loose or falls off with "tag loose alarm" and when someone crosses our boundaries with "portal alarm." it's an electronic voice that announces each alarm overhead on our PA system. VERY RARE for us to have false alarms, and when they are applied properly, cause no problems with scratching or rubbing.

Another hospital I worked at used Security Alert bracelets, and that was a square box with flip open tabs that you feed the bracelet into. They flipped open, breaking the circuit--a lot. I like Hugs MUCH BETTER.

[klone, MSN, RN]

With the Halo system we use, sometimes we'll use baby Poseys and feed the box through that and velcro it onto baby's leg. That seems to work pretty well at keeping the box attached to baby's leg.

[suezan59]

We use the HUGS system, too. I'm assuming that it's the same one the other posters mentioned - the baby's Hug tag is matched to the mom's Kisses tag. Our baby tag is only about the size of a quarter and a half inch thick. The edges are rounded, so it doesn't seem to rub the babies' ankles too badly. The band itself is what activates the tag, so they can't be taken off without triggering the alarm system. We don't get very many false alarms (usually just a "loose tag" message which doesn't cause a full lock-down, just flashing lights and an alert message) and an occasional mom-baby mismatch if a mom goes home and the nurse forgets to take the tags out of her pocket. There is a computer dedicated to the Hugs system that has a map of our department and shows where the tag that is triggering the alarm is located, too.

It seems pretty secure. Our unit can only be accessed by the public by one elevator and the system will trigger a lock-down long before anyone could get near it with a baby. We also have a "welcome desk" at the elevator that is staffed 24/7. All visitors have to sign in and the tech that sits there has a walkie-talkie that is always connected to the security department.

I haven't noticed any problems with the bands getting stinky - our babies only wear them for 4 days at the most, but I guess if they did get nasty, it would be easy to suspend the alarm and change the band.

[DebblesRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

We get a lot of feeder grower preemies from a level III hospital, and they stay with us for weeks, we also get babies in withdrawal that stay for long periods of time, or the NICU babies that need 14 days of IV antibiotics. Those bands can get nasty and stinky. LOL

I have heard about the kissing tags that chime when mom and baby's bands touch or something. My hospital was considering upgrading to those.

Our system locks down all elevators and exits when our boundaries are breached.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

We use the Hugs bands, and we used to use the Kisses as well until they became more of a liability for our unit than an asset - false alarms, and storing them became a PITA because if you stored the Hugs/Kisses too close together, they kept trying to bond and as a result ran the batteries down.

Now we just use the Hugs bands and it seems to work well for us.

[cheesewhiz, LPN]

Our hospital uses the Hugs & Kisses Infant Protection System

[littleneoRN]

I know the posts were old, but I'm curious about the systems that go on the cord clamp. Don't your remove the cord clamp at 24 hours of age? Just curious how this works...

[AllThingsPink]

We use HUGS... never had a problem with it. Never heard of the Kisses portion but it makes sense!

[laboranddeliveryexp]

We use the Secure Care KinderGuard infant security system with their Matchmaker mother/baby matching device. Great system that has never had any issues! I totally recommend them, and their company is great to work with too!

[klone, MSN, RN]

I know the posts were old, but I'm curious about the systems that go on the cord clamp. Don't your remove the cord clamp at 24 hours of age? Just curious how this works...

We generally remove the cord clamp right before discharge (our tag system doesn't go on the clamp, but I thought I would throw that out there). There's generally no reason to remove it at 24 hours, and in fact, a lot of cords aren't dried out that soon.

[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

we use the Safe Place bands that go on the ankle - our transmitters just got upgraded and seem to be working much better...they do alarm frequently because the transmitters are pressure/heat sensitive and if they lose contact with the skin (if the baby squirms a lot or if people don't put the bands on tightly enough) but its decent...