The Coombe maternity hospital introduces a security tagging system to monitor babies under its care.
The busy Coombe Hospital in Dublin welcomes seven thousand babies into the world annually, and a quarter of a million visitors.
For the past three weeks a new baby security system has been on trial here.
An electronic tag is placed around each baby's leg after birth, and removed when they go home. This means that doors automatically lock, and security staff will be alerted if a baby is taken from the hospital without being discharged by staff. CCTV (closed circuit television) will also be used to record a kidnapper’s image.
Mother Lisa Fitzpatrick was surprised to see a tag on her newly born daughter’s leg, is happy with the arrangement,
It’s a great idea because you hear the horror stories of... kids that were taken out of hospitals.
The Coombe has never had to deal with a baby snatch, but as Dr Sean Daly says of the new system ,
It’s not foolproof, but it’s a good additional measure.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 12 April 1994. The reporter is George Devlin.
