Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center started a new safety program for newborn babies involving taking pictures of their feet, CBS affiliate WCAX reported March 13.
The hospital is the first in the state to adopt technology that phases out the old ink stamp footprint in favor of a digital footprint scan, the report said. Any baby born at the hospital has their footprint scanned, a photo of their face taken and a digital footprint of the mother taken for its database. The hospital has been doing the scans for a month, according to the report.
"That digital footprint that we take as a newborn is the same 5 years old, 15 years old, 40 years old. It's always the same," Leah Romine, director of nursing at the hospital, told WCAX. "So in the event mom and baby ever get separated by natural disaster or abduction, there's always a way to identify that baby."
The hospital started the program after realizing it was not following all the recommendations of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Rutland Regional never has had an incident of infant abduction, Ms. Romine said, but it wants to be prepared.
The scans come at no cost to families. They can decline, but so far no one has, according to the report.