An infant has been placed in Tennessee’s first Safe Haven baby drop box just 30 minutes after delivery.
The safe box was installed at the Knoxville Fire Department in February.
After a mother places a baby in the box, staff members are alerted through a silent alarm system and can retrieve the infant.
The staff called an ambulance and got the baby to a local hospital.
KFD Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks said in a statement that he is pleased the new system can help a parent in crisis who does not know what to do with the baby.
“The whole purpose of this box is to be a resource for our community, that a mother or a parent that is in crisis and doesn’t know what to do with a child, has a place to go,” Wilbanks said, according to a report from Breitbart News.
“It may sound a little bit hard to say, but we don’t want them putting the child in the dumpster, we would much rather them place the child in this box where it’s safe and has an opportunity,” Wilbanks continued. “So this is simply that, this is a resource for the community and it makes us feel great to know that it did some good within three months of installing it.”
The box contained a packet of resources for the parent to take with them and allows them to drop off the baby anonymously.
“When they close the door, it takes just a minute for the station to be alerted, that’s the anonymity part of the box itself, it does not immediately alert us to the fact that there’s a baby in the box, and that gives the person time to leave the fire station without us knowing who they were,” Wilbanks said.
The box is “weight sensitive and has a magnetic automatic lock that activates when something is placed inside.” It also heats to 85 degrees quickly, to keep the baby warm until a staff member arrives.
