Hugs Infant Protection Solution

June 18, 2013
Solution offers advanced security in hospital-wide infant protection

WALTHAM, Mass., June 13, 2013 – Stanley Healthcare, a market leading provider of safety, security and operational efficiency solutions for the healthcare industry, today announced the launch of the new generation of the Hugs solution, now available on the AeroScout Wi-Fi-based RTLS Platform, the KLAS Category Leader for RTLS.

Hugs is the market leading solution for protecting infants from the threat of abduction and mother/infant mismatching, and protects more than 1.5 million newborns each year across more than 1,300 hospitals worldwide. The new Hugs solution marks a significant advancement in infant protection: because it works with standard Wi-Fi, it is able to track the location of babies and continues to provide protection anywhere in a hospital where Wi-Fi coverage exists—it is not confined to particular units the way other systems are. It is also the only infant protection solution that conforms to IEC/EN 60601-1-3 with an accredited, third-party test house.

The ability to monitor and protect anywhere in a hospital is critical, since nearly 20 percent of hospital abductions in the U.S. happen outside of the Mother-Baby unit, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In addition to this hospital-wide infant protection, the Hugs solution now offers a range of additional patient safety and operational awareness features for the Obstetrics Department, including automatic temperature monitoring of breast milk refrigeration units, blanket warmers and pharmaceutical cabinets; asset tracking of breast pumps, wheelchairs and other key assets; staff assist to enable staff to call for help for patients or themselves; and hand hygiene compliance monitoring to improve infection prevention through automated around-the-clock monitoring of hand hygiene events.

“With the new generation of Hugs, infants are monitored virtually everywhere and can be quickly located, even during transport, transfer and treatment in ancillary departments,” said Jason Santamaria, President, Stanley Healthcare. “While technology is only one component of a comprehensive security strategy, the unparalleled level of protection in the new Hugs solution provides peace of mind for parents, nurses, administrators and security staff.”

Built on the Stanley Healthcare AeroScout Wi-Fi-based RTLS platform and MobileView enterprise software, the solution provides exit, tamper and supervision protection; automatic and audible mother-infant matching; auto-enrollment of infants and intuitive software. It also easily integrates with:

• Hospital information systems, such as Admission Discharge and Transfer (ADT) systems to automate admissions via HL7

• Communications systems, including VOIP staff badges, IP phones, pagers and other alarm systems for event notification

• Security and access control systems, including magnetic door locks, IP relay systems connected to strobe lights, sounders or other devices, or closedcircuit TV (CCTV) to capture and view footage starting before an exit alarm occurrence

If anyone attempts to leave a monitored area with a protected child without authorization, the Hugs solution will set off an alarm, activate magnetic door locks and hold specified elevators. Staff and security can also immediately locate a protected child anywhere in the hospital by accessing the system’s web browser-based application from any PC or mobile device.

With the Kisses mother/infant matching option, the Hugs solution also provides an automatic and audible alert if an infant is brought to the wrong mother, in support of the traditional process of matching ID bands.

The new Hugs solution is just one of the solutions of Stanley Healthcare’s AeroScout RTLS platform. Once a healthcare organization or department deploys it, other applications, including Asset Tracking & Management, Environmental Monitoring and Hand Hygiene Monitoring, can be deployed on the same platform, delivering additional improvements in safety, security and efficiency.

Stanley Healthcare will be demonstrating the new Wi-Fi Hugs infant protection system in booth #329 at the 2013 Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses convention held in Nashville, Tenn., June 15 – 19, 2013. More information is also available online at www.stanleyhealthcare.com.