Hour-old newborn placed into safe haven baby box at fire station
When authorities were notified that a Safe Haven Baby Box in Indiana had been opened last week, they expected someone to be playing a prank and did not believe a newborn baby would be inside.
"I can see this sweatshirt and I seen a little bitty arm," Fire Chief Mick Pawlik told local media.
The volunteer fire chief of Coolspring Township said he thought it might have been a doll, but quickly realised it was a newborn.
"I opened it up and that baby just looked me right in the eyes."
The child was believed to be about an hour old when it was placed into the box and still had its umbilical chord attached.
An alarm was received by the La Porte County 911 centre just before 10.30pm last Tuesday, and the baby had been in the box for less than five minutes before it was retrieved.
The alarm sounds silently when the box drawer is opened, and then again when something is placed inside, The Times of Northwest Indiana reports.
This box, which is heated and insulated, can then only be opened from inside the building.
"When this box was installed, we hoped that it would never be used, yet we're thankful that it exists for cases just like the one Tuesday night," said Fire Chief Pawlik.
“We are grateful that the mother had this option and made this choice, and we remain concerned for her health.”
Babies up to 30-days old can be surrendered by parents anonymously at any police department, fire station or hospital under the Indiana's Safe Haven Law, CBS reports.
This particular box was installed on April 28, 2016 and the fire station was chosen as a site because in the last 15 years seven babies had been abandoned in an eight kilometre radius of Michigan City, The Times of Northwest Indiana reports.
This box was just the second device of its kind installed in the United States.
The baby was taken to hospital in Michigan City and is believed to be doing well.
