HENRY COUNTY, GA — Parents who feel they have nowhere to turn can now anonymously surrender a newborn at Georgia’s first Safe Haven Baby Box, which opens Friday August 28, at Henry County Fire Station 6 in Ellenwood.
The temperature-controlled box is built into an exterior wall of the fire station and allows a parent to place a baby up to 45 days old inside without entering the building. There are no cameras on the outside of the building where the box is located.
“They can actually bring them to a safe haven, a fire station, where that child will be taken care of,” Henry County Fire Chief Pat Wilson said.
The box works like a window from the outside of the fire station. A parent can open the latch, place the baby inside and close the door. Once the door shuts, it locks and the child cannot be retrieved from the outside.
“The door locks, you cannot retrieve the child; on the opposite side of the wall, our personnel have a clear door that they can see the baby’s inside,” Wilson said.
Opening the box triggers an alarm that alerts firefighters and other law enforcement agencies. A camera inside the box monitors the baby until authorities retrieve the child within five minutes. The box is monitored 24 hours a day.
Wilson said the bassinet is also designed to keep the baby at a safe temperature.
“Based on the ambient temperature inside the fire station, during the summers it would be cool and during the winters it’ll be warm,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the goal is to give parents another option during a difficult situation.
“I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it can be, but unfortunately we know that people are going through so many crises today,” Wilson said. “You have a safe place you can go where nobody is going to say anything to you, and we’re going to take care of your child for you.”
Wilson said there have been incidents in recent years involving babies being left outside fire stations.
“As recently as in the last couple of years, they have dropped babies off on the outside of the fire station,” Wilson said.
The National Safe Haven Alliance estimates more than 4,500 babies have been surrendered at safe haven facilities across the U.S. since 1999, including fire stations, police departments and hospitals. During that same period, nearly 1,000 infant deaths have been reported in connection with illegal abandonments, including babies left in woods or alleyways.
Henry County plans to install additional Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the coming months, including one in Locust Grove and another at Fire Station 5 on Georgia 20.
“We knew we had the opportunity to be the first and that’s always an exciting thing to lead the way,” Wilson said.
WSB Radio’s MaryRyan Howarth contributed to this story.