NCJ Number
148207
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper presents guidelines for health care professionals in helping to prevent the abduction of newborn infants from health care facilities.
Abstract
Following a review of the nature and prevalence of the problem, the paper profiles the offender, who is almost always a female, frequently overweight, ranging in age from 14 to 45 years, and generally having no prior criminal record. The author then provides security information for parents. Some guidelines for parents are to never leave the infant unsupervised, determine hospital protocols for the management of infants, and do not give an infant to anyone without proper verified hospital identification. The general security strategy for the safeguarding of newborn infants requires a comprehensive program of health care policy; education of and teamwork by nurses, parents, and security and risk-management personnel; and the coordination of various elements of physical and electronic security. Collectively, these actions harden the target of potential abductors. Some key preventive measures for hospital professionals are to be alert to unusual behavior and questions by anyone on the floor, to take footprints and photographs of each infant, to require all hospital personnel to wear conspicuous photo ID cards and hospital clothing marked with the hospital's name, and require anyone transporting the infant outside the mother's room to wear an ID wristband. If an infant is abducted from the hospital, a hospital should have a written critical incident response plan. The plan should specify the response tasks of maternal child care nurses, administrators responsible for hospital security, police agencies, and the facilities public relations office. Potential civil liability of hospitals in cases of infant abduction is discussed, followed by a description of infant security for various types of health care facilities as well as the home.