Infant kidnappings: new approaches; realistic drills; making low-tech and high-tech improvements

Although over the past few years there has been a decline in the number of infant kidnappings reported annually by hospitals, pressure on hospital officials by regulators, notably JCAHO, to do a better job of securing maternity areas has increased (see the article beginning on page one of this issue). And despite heavy investments in electronic detection systems, infant abductions continue to take place causing many hospital officials to take a second look at such systems (see the article beginning on page one of the January 2001 issue). In this report, we'll give details about a recent abduction, what happened, and what steps the hospital is taking to prevent a recurrence. We'll also relate how one hospital is devising and conducting regular infant abduction drills. And we'll fill you in on improvements that have been made in the widely used Code Alert system.