Paducah Fire Department dedicates new Safe Haven baby box

On Monday, the Paducah Fire Department dedicated the installation of its first Safe Haven Baby Box.

A baby box is a place where a struggling parent can safely drop off their baby, anonymously. Babies can be legally surrendered up to 30 days old in the state of Kentucky. The box is an alternative to past tragic instances of infants being abandoned in unsafe conditions.

The box is an enclosed, temperature-controlled area that is installed along the fire station’s outer wall. When a baby is placed into the bassinet inside the enclosure, an electronic alert system notifies emergency services so the baby can be quickly retrieved, taken to a local hospital and eventually placed into temporary foster care. 

The baby box is located at Paducah Fire Station Five at 1714 Broadway.

Private donations presented to the nonprofit organization Hope Unlimited will cover the costs for the first year of operation. It was a local family through Hope Unlimited who made the original request to have a baby box placed in Paducah and McCracken County. City commissioners approved the installation last October.

The Safe Haven baby box was conceived by an Indiana firefighter and medic in 2015. This is the 266th baby box in the country and the 43rd in Kentucky.