Preventative Measures for Hospitals

• Take foot prints of each infant (full foot to be sparingly inked and complete impression made using light pressure taking care to capture ridge detail on the ball of the foot).
• Take a clear, high quality, head and shoulder, colour photograph of the newborn child.
• A full written description of the infant should be kept with the photograph and entered as part of the infant's medical records.
• Ensure all hospital personnel ( including senior management) wear conspicuous photo ID cards.
• Identify and use a distinctive code for those authorized to handle infants.
• Anyone transporting the infant outside of the mother's room to wear an identification wristband.
• Ensure that infants are always supervised by either the mother or the nursing staff.
• Require visual proof of the identification wristband for a person taking the infant home from the hospital, matching the child's bands with those of the parents.
• Infants should be taken to mothers one at a time rather than in a group in the corridor.
• Mark infant T-shirts or gowns at the throat with the hospital name and logo. Infant blankets should be marked on all four corners.
• Instruct hospital personnel to ask visitors which mother they are visiting and set up a sign-in log requiring identification.
• Do not post the mother's or infant's name where it is visible to visitors.
• Deploy video cameras in strategic locations such as the nursery, stairwells, doorways, elevators, and hallways, to monitor incoming and outgoing activity.
• Install alarms with time-delay locks on stairwells and exit doors and instruct staff to silence the alarm only after direct observation of the person using the stairwell or exit.
• Consider the installation of an electronic surveillance detection system.
• Be aware of the possibility of diversionary tactics being used as part of the abduction.
• All infant abduction protocols and incident response plans should be in writing and known to all hospital staff.
• Develop a media plan to brief the media on the incident (held jointly with law enforcement) and enlist their aid in publicizing the abduction.
• Contact Child Find at 1-800-387-7962.