Commission Issues Newborn Kidnapping Guidelines
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) last week issued guidelines that should help hospitals prevent baby snatching. The special alert was sent to nearly U.S. 5,100 hospitals and has a direct effect on hospital promotions and education.
In a review of eight recent abductions, the commission found that all were perpetrated by female abductors in hospitals with unmonitored access to elevators and stairwells near the postpartum or nursery areas. All occurred in midsize to large hospitals. Its recommendations, based on hospital investigations, focus on better security, parent and staff education and being more responsible about promoting births.
They include:
- Discontinuing birth announcements in newspapers. (Hospitals should also rethink their birth announcements posted on Web sites.)
- Educating staff on ways to identify potential abductors and steps to take if a baby is abducted.
- Attaching identification bands to baby, mother and father or significant other immediately after birth.
- Increasing parent education about abduction risks.
These recommendations are posted on JCAHO's Web site under Sentinel events at www.jcaho.org.
(JCAHO, Janet McIntire, 818/762-2938)
NFL To Air Breast Cancer PSAs
Shortly after Glastonbury, Conn.-based PR agency Cronin and Comp. polished off several PSAs for a new corporate identity campaign on behalf of the Komen Foundation's breast cancer efforts, the National Football League agreed to run two of the PSAs nationwide.
The NFL is a national sponsor of Komen's Race for the Cure.
You may recall reading about how the agency earned Komen's business (HPRMN, Jan. 7, p.5) by suggesting a short film approach for the foundation's corporate video. So far, the approach is helping Komen attract some high-profile corporate sponsors. In addition to the NFL, Imagyn Medical Technologies, a marketer of medical products, has donated airtime to run Komen's PSAs.
The PSAs feature four women who share their personal experiences with breast cancer and are derived from the new corporate identity short film Cronin created.
The film, "For the Cure," takes an intimate look at the Komen family's struggle with breast cancer, including Nancy Brinker, the organization's founding chair, Susan Komen, Brinker's sister who died of breast cancer and their mother Ellie Goodman.
Cronin recommended the short film strategy to capture the vision and personality of the Komen Foundation.
(Cronin, Rebecca Runyon, 860/659-0514)
Pitching Opps
Quick! National Safety Council seeks ideas for new emergency response magazine.
PR pros certainly know that "every second counts," but staffers at the National Safety Council believe those words are at the core of the emergency response profession.
The Council launched a quarterly magazine, Every Second Counts, in April, covering the issues, trends and events relevant not only to emergency responders but medical technicians, paramedics and healthcare professionals as well.
The magazine covers state-of-the-art procedures and technology. The first issue included an article about the increasing use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which are critical in the care of sudden cardiac arrests in the workplace.
"This is not a technical journal, but an educational one," says Publisher John Kennedy. He's looking for ideas as well as new products for the reviews section and legislative updates.
The magazine relied on a freelance editor for the first issue, but Kennedy says in June he will be hiring a full-time one. For now, send all ideas to Kennedy. (1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143; phone: 630/775-2103; fax: 630/775-2310)
Last month, Publisher Mark Allen of Mark Allen Publishing, Ltd., launched a healthcare title in April: Nursing and Residential Care.
Editor Nicola Lloyd of Nursing and Residential Care says the London-based pub is aimed at nurses and care assistants who are in residential homes.
This journal offers in-depth articles about how to carry out home care procedures, legal and management issues and stories about preparing your home for inspections.
U.K.-based Press Gazette reported that Mark Allen also is proposing a launch for a new title this fall. No details about the new healthcare title were given by the company. Any submissions can be mailed to Lloyd or Peyre at Mark Allen Publishing, Ltd. Croxted News, 288 Croxted Road, London SE24 9BY, England. The main number is 181/671-7521.