NEWBORN LEFT AT EL CAJON FIRE STATION IS ADOPTED BY LOCAL COUPLE

SAFELY SURRENDERED BABY PROGRAM SAVED CHILD’S LIFE

June 11, 2009 (El Cajon) – A baby girl left by her mother at an El Cajon Fire station has been adopted by a local family, the City of El Cajon announced today. The infant, just hours old, was left with firefighters at Station 6 on Lexington Avenue under the Safely Surrendered Baby Program. The program provides safe places for parents to bring unwanted infants up to three days old, without penalties, and is designed to save children from being abandoned in dumpsters or other unsafe places. El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott says, “The El Cajon Fire Department is honored to make our fire stations available for this valuable program. As a result of this recent event a life was saved, and a couple’s dream to adopt a child came true.”

. The Safely Surrendered Baby law established hospitals as safe haven sites and allowed the Counties to designate other facilities, such as fire stations as safe haven locations. In December 2007, the El Cajon Fire Department joined fire agencies from throughout San Diego County to become a designated site for the program. Firefighters at Station 6 provided immediate emergency medical care for the infant and transported her to a receiving hospital. Within a few days, the healthy baby girl was adopted.

In 2001, SB1368 became law and established the Safely Surrendered Baby program. The purpose of the law is to encourage parents to bring unwanted infants, up to three days old, to reception centers such as hospitals or fire stations. The law is to protect babies from being hurt or killed. No names are required and the parent(s) will not be subject to prosecution for child abandonment. The baby will receive needed medical treatment and be placed in an adoptive home. There is a mechanism for parents to reclaim the infant within 14 days if deemed appropriate by Child Welfare Services.

Fire stations are located in the communities where people work and live, and have always been thought of as places where people can go to get help. A local fire station can be less intimidating than a hospital. The City of El Cajon has four stations; Station #6 at 100 E. Lexington Avenue, Station #7 at 695 Tyrone Street, Station #8 at 1470 East Madison Avenue and Station #9 at 1301 North Marshall Street.

For more information about the Safely Surrender Baby program please contact the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency at (858) 694-5700. For more information on the Safely Surrendered Baby Law, visit: http://www.safebaby.ca.gov