State-of-the-Art Newborn Safety System
Vermont Business Magazine Rutland Regional Medical Center’s Women’s & Children’s Unit (WACU) has recently installed a new and innovative Infant Safety System developed by CertaScan Technologies (www.certascantek.com). Rutland Regional is the first hospital in the state of Vermont to have installed this new safety system and provide this innovative service to moms and the community it serves.
The proprietary system allows the hospital to capture high resolution digital images of a newborn’s footprint which can be used for precise identification in situations like an abduction, lost baby or natural disaster.
“Though we have a very robust and safe WACU and Birthing Center, we always look for ways we can make it even safer,” said Leah Romine, Nurse Director of the Women’s and Children’s Unit and Birthing Center at Rutland Regional. “This new footprint system fit the bill in so many ways.”
The Newborn Safety System, which uses LiveScan Technology, has garnered the attention and praise from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and has been included as a recommendation for hospitals in its most recent Infant Security Guidelines.
“What is nice about the footprint system is that it is an extra layer of the security measures we’ve already put in place,” said Roger Wakeman, Vice President of Corporate Services. “Anything we can do to secure the safety of our patients, including our newborns, we support.”
The System is entirely safe for use on babies and provides outstanding footprint quality. Nurses prefer the System because it is easy to use, seamless to adopt and replaces the time consuming and messy ink and paper method. The digital footprints and security photo are stored in the newborn’s electronic medical record and, much like fingerprints, footprints are a biometric, which is a body measurement that is unique to each individual and can be used for identification throughout their lifetime.
Each new mom receives a certificate of their newborn’s footprint during their stay. When she returns home, she can visit www.firstfootprint.com to personalize the certificate with colors, different fonts and borders and then download a digital copy of her baby’s footprint. The footprint certificate, scan, and access to the program is provided to the parent at no cost.
To learn more, visit https://www.rrmc.org/services/womens-health/pregnancy-birth/after-baby-is-born/
About Women’s & Children’s Unit and Birthing Center: The Women’s & Children’s Unit and Birthing Center provides expert care for laboring moms and their newborns. Private rooms are provided for labor and delivery as well as for postpartum care. Rutland Regional Medical Center was recently recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program for reaching the “Gold Safe Sleep Champion” designation for their commitment to best practices and education on infant safe sleep. The hospital was also named to Newsweek’s 2021 list of Best Maternity Care Hospitals recognizing facilities that have provided exceptional care to mothers, newborns, and their families, as verified by the 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
2.21.2023. RUTLAND, VT - Rutland Regional Medical Center
