Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Installs Innovative Newborn Safety System

July 8, 2015

Cheyenne, WY—Cheyenne Regional Medical Center recently installed a new infant safety system that allows the hospital to digitally capture high-resolution newborn footprints that could be used for identification in the event of an infant abduction, lost baby or natural disaster. Cheyenne Regional is the only hospital in Wyoming and Colorado using the CertaScan technology. The system will go live at CRMC in mid-July.

The new system includes an FBI-certified, forensic quality scanner and a secure laptop containing proprietary software in addition to a camera and barcode reader assembled on a trolley for easy mobility.

The system allows an infant’s digital footprints and photo to be stored in the hospital’s electronic medical record. Footprints are unique to each baby, so they can be used for identification throughout the child’s lifetime.

“Having this new system adds another layer of security and peace of mind for our parents and for everyone involved with caring for infants at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center,” said Erin Rooney, clinical director of Cheyenne Regional’s Women & Children’s Services.

Another benefit is that CRMC nursing staff can use the system to print a certificate of a newborn’s footprints for parents to use as both a keepsake and for identification should the need ever arise. The certificate will be provided at no cost to parents. Parents can also customize the certificate from their home computer and can then download and print it.

One of the first CRMC employees to learn the new system and to train other CRMC clinical staff is Jennifer Forest, a certified nurse assistant with CRMC’s Women & Children’s Services. 

“I like the fact that the new system is user friendly and allows the parents to customize their baby’s own souvenir birth certificate,” Forest said. “It’s also comforting to know that by bringing this system to our community, we could potentially help recover a lost or missing child.”

The new CertaScan Infant Safety Security system is recommended for hospital use by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

CRMC will be charged $10 per infant to use the new system. There were no upfront costs to bring the system online. About 1,200 babies are born each year at CRMC.

“This is a great example of how involved our nursing staff is in recommending changes that benefit our hospital and community,” Rooney said.