LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Months after Gov. Andy Beshear signed the "Safe Haven Baby Box" bill into law, Kentucky has its first baby box.
The 74th baby box in the U.S. opened on July 1 at Okolona Fire Station 1 on Preston Highway. The installation began in early June, just after Beshear signed the bill.
"Okolona Fire Protection District is honored to be able to provide a Safe Haven Baby Box to our community," Okolona Fire Chief Mark Little said. "We are in the business of saving lives, and this baby box is another tool that will allow us to do just that. This truly is a proactive resource we are providing to the community for those who feel they have no other options."
The baby box will allow a new mother to surrender her child without question within the first 30 days of life. Each box has an exterior door that automatically locks upon placement and an interior door that allows trained first responders to access the infant.
"Just knowing that we may be able to make a difference in somebody's life, somebody who may in total crisis and feel like they have no other place to turn to, we're giving them an outlet to do that versus what some of the alternatives could be. That's very important to me," said Okolona Fire Deputy Chief Kenny Amback.
Over the last week, everyone at the fire station has been trained on how to respond to the two separate alarms that sound when a baby is placed inside the box. Their quickest response time so far was under two minutes.
"Once baby's placed inside and that door locks, that baby is safe and secure inside," said Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc. founder Monica Kelsey
Kelsey said the project was funded by a donation from The Zonta Club of Louisville and a fundraiser started by Isabella Lamkin, a teen who was abandoned as a child and formed a petition to get the Baby Box bill passed.
Lane Contracting, All in One Security and Louisville Metro Safe helped install the box.
"We are grateful that Kentucky has joined seven other states to expand safe haven laws, and we are proud to partner with Okolona Fire Department, which has joined 73 other baby box locations," Kelsey said. "There is no doubt that Okolona is taking a proactive approach to infant abandonment in our country."
Twelve infants have been placed in a baby box in the last three years. In early May, a healthy baby was anonymously surrendered to Clarksville Fire Station 1 less than one year after officials opened the box.
It took firefighters less than 15 seconds to have the newborn in their arms, with Chief Brandon Skaggs calling it "the best 23 minutes I've had as a firefighter."
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