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In This Issue:
When nurse educator Cathy Saniuk, RN, and nursing student Meredith O’Keefe, RN, noticed a woman carrying what appeared to be an infant in her arms on Tower 8, they realized something wasn’t right. A Code Pink—the hospital’s infant security alert—had just been called, and BWH’s infant security policy forbids people from transporting infants in their arms.
“The only way we allow someone to transport a newborn is in a bassinet, and the person is always escorted by someone with a pink ID badge,” said Bob Donaghue, operations manager for Security and Parking.
Saniuk and O’Keefe began to question the woman and called Security when she hurriedly attempted to get on the elevator. Then the woman stopped and congratulated them on intervening; she was playing a role in a Code Pink drill run by BWH Security to ensure the safety of infants at the hospital.
“Cathy and Meredith did the right thing,” said Joan Eilers, RN, assistant nurse manager of the Center for Labor and Birth. “They sensed something just wasn’t right.”
Security runs Code Pink drills like this one monthly in the Connors Center and is now adding drills throughout the rest of the hospital. “While the Connors Center is where our infants are cared for, we need the whole hospital to be alert and aware of infant security,” Donaghue said. “Having regular drills ensures that we can safeguard infants in the hospital.”
You notice someone carrying an infant in their arms. Infants are transported only in bassinets at BWH.
You see someone transporting an infant without a BWH employee escort wearing a pink ID badge.