Actually, I beg to differ here. I work for a hospital that has taken error prevention in hospitals very seriously, and bar coding of all patients, meds, charts, etc. has been researched and does significantly reduce potentially life-threatening errors that humans make, which are, unfortunately, very, very common in all hospital settings. (Since the initiation of our error-prevention policies and procedures we have significantly lowered our error rates).

Holly McSpadden, IBCLC
-------------- Original message from gonneke van veldhuizen <[log in to unmask]>: --------------

And how is this better than a label with the written names of mom and babe, date and time of expressing? With this thing nurses have to carry around yet another
> thing with them, that could get lost, misplaced or not working properly. Isn't this just another ''machine that says beeb''? (with a wink to Monty
> Pyton's sketch about the very machine-led delivery).
>
> Warmly,
> Gonneke, IBCLC, LLLL not liking too much machines in southern Netherlands on a
> grey and cloudy early Monday monrning
>
>
>
> --- On Sun, 8/17/08, Janice Reynolds wrote:
> From: Janice Reynolds
> Subject: [LACTNET] bar-code tracking of NICU pumped breast milk
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Sunday, August 17, 2008, 9:24 PM
>
> (newspaper item on a hospital's system for tracking pumped breast milk of
> NICU moms)
>
>
>
> http://www.tribstar.com/features/local_story_226211154.html
>
>
>
>
>
> They have bar codes on everything else, why not breast milk? Specifically,
> the bottles the breast milk is pumped into.
>
> Union Hospital's new automated system, called NICU Tracer, uses a handheld
> scanner to print a label, and match up the identification bands on the mom,
> infant and container label to ensure that the proper breast milk is given to
> the proper infant.
>
> Besides making sure the right baby gets the right milk, the system
> automatically tracks and audits feedings, provides inventory control and
> saves time.
>
> While most babies born at Union Hospital are breast-fed, there are some
> instances where that isn't possible, such as when the baby is born
> prematurely, says Dena Cochran, nursing care manager.
>
> "The best thing for the baby is breast milk," Cochran explains.
> "We get all
> breast-feeding moms pumping [if their baby cannot breast-feed immediately].
> We want the mom's milk to come in."
>
> Union saves every drop the mother can pump, including the nutrient-rich
> colostrum, which is produced during the first few days of breast-feeding.
>
> When Mom hands over the bottle of breast milk, a label is affixed to it with
> a bar code that matches that of mom and baby.
>
> "It's worked very well, Cochran says. "We're always looking
> for ways to
> improve patient safety."
>
>
>
> (that's the whole item)
>
>
>
> Janice Reynolds
>
>
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