More American Newborns are Being Lost in Hospital Pneumatic Tube Systems.....

Houston, TX- When Bamanda Ellis delivered her first baby at a premiere academic birthing center in Houston, the last thing she expected was to go home without her child. But instead of driving off with a car seat full of hopes and dreams for the future, Bamanda and her husband Tab had a tracking number and a promise to be notified as soon as their baby was found. Their child had joined a growing number of newborns being lost in hospital pneumatic tube systems across the United States.

"Seeing those little bastards fly by just makes my day."
-Fred Grimley, Facility Engineer at Cleveland's Hospital for Mothers, Babies, Etc.

Pneumatic tube systems are a standard technology in large healthcare facilities. When seconds count, rapid and reliable delivery of blood products, tissue samples, and medications can literally save lives. But according to a recently published report from the Office of the Surgeon General, 7% of newborns are lost in these popular delivery systems every year, the majority of which were born prematurely and at a low birthweight for their gestational age.

"It might take a nurse or transport team ten to fifteen minutes to move a critically ill baby from point A to point B in this facility," Neep Gunderstone, an expert in neonatal logistics at Texas Children's Pavilion for Women. "The sooner that a lifesaving intervention can be initiated, the better the outcomes tend to be. And in the rare cases where a neonate is lost, they have usually just been tubed to the wrong station and we typically find them within 3-5 business days."

Though a common practice in large neonatal intensive care units and nurseries, it is not without its critics. According to United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams MD, this century-old technology needs to be updated before being used to transport patients. "Frankly it's embarrassing. I keep telling them not to use the tubes for that."

Thankfully the story of the Ellis family has a happy ending. Their child was eventually found in the radiology reading room and returned to the worried parents. And according to the relieved new mother, there may be a surprising silver lining. "I know he's just a week old, but I think he really learned a lot down there. Just imagine, my baby...a radiologist."