Healthy newborn baby boy left unharmed at Tennessee safe haven in ‘time of crisis’
A healthy newborn baby boy has been left unharmed in a Tennessee safe haven just 30 minutes after birth in ‘time of crisis’
- Baby was placed in a safe at Fire Station 17 in Knoxville on Saturday
- Station staff called an ambulance to take the child to hospital
A healthy newborn baby boy, estimated to be about 30 minutes old, has been left unharmed in a Tennessee ‘time of crisis’ safe haven.
The baby was the first to be placed in a “Safe Haven Baby Playpen” in Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday, the city’s fire department reported.
According to a post on the Facebook page of the Knoxville Fire Department, the newborn was placed in the container attached to the 17 Western Avenue fire station at 12:19 p.m.
“The station’s three-person crew immediately went to the coffin and found a healthy baby boy inside,” the department said in the post.
The child was not injured and was quickly removed from the box for further examination. The station staff called an ambulance to take the child to hospital.’
The baby, estimated to be about 30 minutes old, was the first to be placed in a Tennessee ‘Safe Haven Baby Playpen’ in Knoxville on Saturday, the city’s fire department reported.
The “Safe Haven Baby Box,” the first of its kind in the state, was installed at the station on Feb. 17 as an alternative for use by an anonymous parent in “a time of crisis.”
It was the first time the device, which is available anytime, any day of the year, had been used since its installation, the department said.
“The whole purpose of this box is to be a resource for our community so that a mother or a parent who is in crisis and doesn’t know what to do with a child has a place to go,” says assistant chief Mark Wilbanks. told WATE-TV in Knoxville.
A 2001 state law “allows mothers of newborns to deliver unharmed infants to designated facilities within two weeks of birth without fear of prosecution.”
It also says, “As long as the baby is unharmed and the child is surrendered within two weeks of birth, the mother – or parents – will not be prosecuted and complete confidentiality is assured.”
According to the foundation’s website, an August 2022 grant from the East Tennessee Foundation’s Craig Fund helped fund the installation of the box.
The Knoxville Fire Department posted a message on Saturday. “The station’s three-man crew immediately went to the coffin and found a healthy baby boy inside”
In a video announcing the device in February, Wilbanks said it is “an extremely safe device” that keeps warm and alerts firefighters when a baby is placed in the inner crib without interacting with the persons exiting the child.
He said, ‘You don’t have to do anything but walk to the coffin. Just open the handle and place the baby inside.
It’s completely anonymous. You don’t have to tell the firefighters you’re here.’
Wilbanks said firefighters at the station would care for the child until the Department of Children’s Services can come and take over the baby.
“We are very grateful to have this as a resource for someone who is in crisis and doesn’t know what to do with their child,” he said.