Richard Lopez, fire chief of Carlsbad, city in New Mexico said He felt his department was a place for mothers to go, but learned they need to do more. on Nov 4th.
“I felt that our fire departments have always been a safe haven if that was the avenue the mother wanted to go down. I didn’t realize that we needed one more step in this program. That was an eye-opener for us."
The trope of leaving babies at fire stations is based on some truth, and now, the Carlsbad Fire Department is planning on installing a baby box at its main station. If a mother decided she didn't want her baby, she could put it in the box, which will be locked, and firefighters will get a silent alarm. After a Hobbs mother was seen on surveillance video dumping her infant in a dumpster back in January, the department made the decision to get a baby box.
Lopez said, “I felt that our fire departments have always been a safe haven if that was the avenue the mother wanted to go down. I didn’t realize that we needed one more step in this program. That was an eye-opener for us." Carlsbad Department, in a partnership with Safe Haven Baby Boxes, will install the box. Though they hope it’s never used , but they still think it’s important to have it just in case.
The New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department gave the department a $10,000 grant for the baby box, which the department expects to be installed early next year. Carlsbad joins Española for taking the steps to safely surrendering babies.