LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – When parents can’t be with their baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock, Angel Eye Camera Systems allows them to remotely watch over their little bundle of joy from any location at any time of the day.
That’s a heaven-sent solution for parents and family, especially those who live and work many miles away from the hospital.
The Angel Eye system, installed recently at Baptist Health, uses a camera that’s placed at the baby’s bedside and provides live-stream video. Loved ones can log into a secure account from their laptop, tablet or smart phone to check in on their newborn. In addition, Angel Eyes enables parents to watch physicians when they are making their rounds visiting their child.
Funded in part by the Baptist Health Foundation, Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock’s Angel Eye Camera System went live July 14 with 30 cameras in the NICU.
Kelli Savage and her fiancé John Pryor both of Hamburg were the first parents to enroll in the hospital’s program. This new camera technology has allowed Savage and Pryor to return to their home two and half hours away, but still keep an eye on their son, Raylan.
Raylan, who was born three months before his due date at only 1 pound and 6 ounces, has been in BHMC-Little Rock’s NICU since May 14. After a month of visiting their son several days during the work week, the couple had to return to their jobs fulltime. Now they have a way to stay connected with Raylan during the week until they can visit him on the weekends.
Before Angel Eye was available, Savage said she would call the NICU three or four times a day to check on her baby.
“It’s been great having a way to see our baby while we’re not there,” said Savage. “It helps knowing he’s doing well, and I can see that with my own eyes.”
The Angel Eye camera system was developed in 2008 by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and is licensed to Angel Eye Camera Systems LLC through UAMS BioVentures. UAMS began using these cameras in its NICU in 2008. Angel Eye Camera Systems, LLC, is headquartered in Little Rock with offices in Nashville, Tennessee. It has installed the internet-based technology in 24 hospitals across the country, with nine pending installations. Angel Eye is sold exclusively through a distribution agreement with International Biomedical.
With more than 175 points of access, including eight hospitals, Baptist Health is committed to delivering “All Our Best” in health care to the people of Arkansas. For more information about Baptist Health services, call Baptist Health HealthLine at 1-888-BAPTIST.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and two dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.eduwww.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.