Radio-frequency identification technology from VeriChip Corp., a provider of security and identification technology, prevented the abduction of a baby late last week from the Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, N.C.
VeriChip"s "Hugs" Infant Protection System sounded an audible alarm and flashed a warning on the screen at the seventh-floor nurses" station when the parents of an infant attempted to remove their baby without authorization from the hospital"s nursery. Staff quickly responded to the "Code Pink" alert, and security officials were able to stop the abduction, recover the infant unharmed, and return him safely to maternity ward staff. The parents, who have two other children in the supervision of social services, were concerned this child, too, would be removed from their care, according to a spokesman for Presbyterian Healthcare, the parent company of the hospital.