SITKA, ALASKA, February 5, 2018 — Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital (MEH) recently installed and deployed the Hugs Wi-Fi Infant Protection solution, along with the matching mother/infant component of the Hugs system; Kisses® Mother as an additional layer of security in its Labor and Delivery Department.

The Hugs technology is a comprehensive infant security system that protects newborns against the risk of abduction not only in the Labor and Delivery Department but anywhere in the hospital covered by Wi-Fi. Each infant wears a tiny Hugs Wi-Fi tag on his or her ankle attached with a special tamper-detecting band. Protection of the baby begins immediately once the tag is attached.

The Hugs system provides some unique benefits including hospital-wide infant security by monitoring all exits. The status and location of infants can be tracked anywhere within the hospital’s Wi-Fi coverage, and exits remain protected even if communication to the hospital’s server is temporarily interrupted. And, infants detected outside the Labor and Delivery unit with no record of a staff member transporting the baby to another area of the hospital automatically triggers an alarm.

MEH also added the Kisses® component of the Hugs system to match newborn babies to their mothers automatically to further augment security for each infant. Each mother receives a Kisses tag which is programmed to be “bonded” with her baby’s Hugs tag to wear around her wrist. Whenever the two tags meet anywhere in the hospital, the Hugs tag checks for a proper match to the individually programmed Kisses® tag worn by the baby’s mother. When a match is verified, the tags make a specific sound letting staff know the infant is with his or her mother.

Charles Clement, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium President, and CEO said,

“SEARHC takes our patients’ safety, security, and protection seriously, and protecting the infants born at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital is critically important. Providing Hugs and Kisses as an additional safeguard to the newborns in our care is just one of the recent upgrades we have implemented at MEH, and our staff continues to seek innovative solutions, educational opportunities, and technology to advance the medical care and experience we provide to our patients.”

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