MOULTRIE, Ga. — One might call it a big “step forward,” literally.

Colquitt Regional Medical Center recently installed a new and innovative Infant Safety System developed by CertaScan Technologies. The system allows the hospital to capture high-resolution newborn footprints which can be used for precise identification in situations like an abduction, lost baby or natural disaster.

The Newborn Safety System — which uses LiveScan Technology — has garnered the attention and praise from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and has been included as a recommendation for hospitals in its most recent Infant Security Guidelines.

“We take patient safety very seriously, and investing in this improved system for our Maternal-Infant Unit was an easy decision for us,” said Colquitt Regional CEO Jim Matney. “CertaScan allows us to provide another layer of safety for new mothers and infants.”

The System is entirely safe for use on babies and provides outstanding footprint quality, hospital officials said.  Nurses prefer the system because it is easy to use, and replaces the time consuming and messy ink and paper method.  The digital foot prints and security photo can be stored efficiently in the newborn’s electronic medical record. And, much like fingerprints, footprints are biometric, unique to each baby, so they can be used for identification throughout a lifetime, a hospital spokesman said.

Each new mom receives a certificate of her newborn’s footprint during her stay.  When she returns home, she can also download a digital copy of her baby’s footprint.  These additional benefits are provided as a gift from Colquitt Regional Medical Center  at no cost.

Colquitt Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in the  Georgia to provide this innovative service to patients and the community it serves, said Matney.

Hospital Authority Chairman Richard Bass said this is another step in the right direction.  “We recently received our seventh “A” Hospital Safety Score. Focusing on ways to improve the experiences and safety of our patients is the reason we continue to earn top grades.  Bringing the CertaScan system to Colquitt Regional is a great move for us.”

Colquitt Regional is a 151- bed capacity medical center located in Moultrie, GA.  The latest “A” Hospital Safety Score designation from The Leapfrog Group names  CRMC as one of the safest hospitals in the nation.