CHENNAI: After repeated cases of baby-lifting from government hospitals, the State health department has decided to use technology to safeguard newborns from kidnappers. From Wednesday, access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Government Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital here will be controlled by a biometric security system. This would be a pilot project and would be extended to other hospitals in the State, said official sources.
The new move is in line with the previous initiative of using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to ensure that children are not kidnapped from the labour ward. The tags functioned much like those used in big textile establishments to prevent shoplifting.
While the RFID system offers three-layers of security for the baby, mother and patient attenders at labour wards using tags, readers and monitoring, besides an alert system, the biometric system is simpler. It primarily restricts access to the Neonatal Intensive Critical Care Unit (NICCU), where sick newborns are admitted.
“From Wednesday, entry into the NICCU will be only through the biometric system. Mothers of the sick children admitted in the NICCU will be given ID cards,” Dr R Narayana Babu, Director of Medical Education (additional incharge), told Express.
“This ensures the safety of the children admitted in the NICCU, because they are alone most of the time, with their mothers coming in only to feed them. So there is a risk of baby-lifting,” Dr Babu noted.
There are three options — swiping the card, thumb impression and facial identification. “The door will open only for those recorded in the system, not just for people to enter, but also to leave the NICCU. “So even if a person manages to enter, he or she will not be able to get out,” he added.
The staff members attached to the ward have been given the ID cards, while the process of entering the details of mothers whose children are admitted in the ward has begun.
Dr K L Malarvizhi, nodal officer for RFID tag system, said the biometric and RFID systems have different uses and objectives. The first is for the labour ward, where there are a large number of attenders milling around. In such a scenario, a tag that sends a warning if the baby is moved five metres away from the mother is used.
“Unlike the crowded labour ward, access to the NICCU is restricted to the mothers who come in to feed the babies. So, the biometric system is better suited in the NICCU ward,” said another senior paediatrician at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. “Once a child is discharged, the details on the card would be reset and the data of the new admission to the NICCU will be entered,” Dr Babu explained.
The RFID tag system, introduced in the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, has reached its final stage of testing, said the doctors.