PENNSYLVANIA : Pittsburgh to Test Child-Abuse Alarm

Pittsburgh-area children in troubled homes will be given an electronic emergency device--a plastic pendant the size of a yo-yo--that they will be able to use to alert authorities when they are being mistreated. Five families will participate in the experimental project. Children can alert a hospital and summon police whenever they feel endangered by pressing a button on the portable device, or a wedge-shaped base unit near a telephone. A hospital dispatcher can then communicate with the child through the base unit while police respond. The button also activates a siren in the home.