By Jessica A. York
Vallejo Times Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — It may have looked like just another Saturday at the park for one young couple and their child.
But firefighters stationed across from City Park knew that that couple was making the decision of a lifetime.
Should they or shouldn’t they give up their days’ old baby, they were contemplating.
For the past five years, Vallejo Fire Department stations have been prepared to offer a safe haven for parents like these to drop off their less than 3-day-old infants.
In that time, three possible baby abandonment processes have been initiated by parents seeking information. All three attempts were stopped short before completion. They included the young couple, who considered and rejected the abandonment option less than six months ago, department EMS Coordinator Michael Humphrey said.
Department personnel have been given sensitivity training for such visits. They are directed to offer no judgment of the parents, nor try to sway their decisions. They simply provide information to the parents and receive the baby, Humphrey said.
Tonight, the Vallejo City Council will consider formalizing city fire stations as “Safe Surrender Sites,” a process inadvertently skipped years ago, Humphrey said.
The designation was prompted by the Solano County Board of Supervisors, which approached Humphrey after he filled the year-vacant role of EMS coordinator. Vallejo is the county’s last city to formally adopt the program, Humphrey said.
“Operationally, nothing is going to change,” Humphrey said. “This just sort of gives (the program) recognition on the local county level.”
Firefighter Vaughn Hardiman said he first brought the program idea to his superiors’ attention in 2005, after seeing a news report of another city turning their fire department into a safe baby drop-off point.
Hardiman said the report did not specify which cities had the program and which did not, and he felt Vallejo should get out ahead of the drop-offs, before they came.
“I hope a program like this completely eliminates finding babies (abandoned unsafely),” Hardiman said.
Parents or legal guardians dropping off their new-born children may retain their anonymity. They will be given an identifying plastic bracelet matching the same on the child, in case they would like to reclaim their child later, Humphrey said. They are only asked to fill out a health history for the baby’s family to assist in future health care, Humphrey said.
The baby is then transported to a local hospital by ambulance, where appropriate county officials can take the next steps.
“It’s a chain of people involved, we’re just the first part,” Humphrey said.
If firefighters are not at the fire station where the drop-off is to occur, parents may also call 9-1-1, Humphrey said.
Copyright 2010 The Times-Herald