Baby drop box?
”
Hi, Red Phone! I was out for a walk on Wren Avenue yesterday and
walked by the fire station. I knew that there was a new law that
said newborn children could be safely surrendered at the fire
station, but I couldn’t believe there’s actually a drop box under
the ‘safe surrender’ sign!
Baby drop box?
“Hi, Red Phone! I was out for a walk on Wren Avenue yesterday and walked by the fire station. I knew that there was a new law that said newborn children could be safely surrendered at the fire station, but I couldn’t believe there’s actually a drop box under the ‘safe surrender’ sign! What is this, the animal shelter?! I can’t take a dog or cat to San Martin, but a BABY can be dropped into a box at the fire station? What if the firemen aren’t there? Please check this out.”
Red Phone:
OK, OK, it has to admit, your question really had the Red Phone laughing … not that dropping a baby into a slot is a laughing matter. But it was fairly confident that the sign and the slot weren’t related.
According to Emergency Medical Services Division Chief Phil King, there is a lot more to the surrendering process than dumping a newborn in a drop box.
There is no “drop box” at the Las Animas Fire Station. There is a sign indicating that individuals can surrender a child there. However, the box the person is referring to is a mail slot, and that is not used for infants.
Under California law, an individual can safely surrender an infant without fear of persecution at a fire department.
The person is directed to ring the bell, explain to fire department personnel that they are going surrender the child. The fire officials will ask for the person’s medical history and family’s medical history, such as history of breast cancer, so that the infant will have some medical information in the future. Additionally, the individual will be given a band identical to the infant that they can use to re-claim the child if they decide within three days that they made a mistake.
So, good caller, thanks for the laughs and rest assured, ‘safe surrender’ is a lot more complicated than just dropping a child into the mail slot.
What a shame
“I’ve been keeping watch on the Dispatch for stories on the sewage overflow and haven’t been disappointed. I just want to thank you all for bringing this to light and keeping tabs on that situation. It is absolutely horrendous and the owner or manager of that place, whoever, should absolutely be ashamed of himself. I don’t know how he sleeps at night. It’s despicable for someone to allow that to happen and not find a permanent fix. I wanted to praise the paper for really going to town on this and helping to get something done. Thank you for the continuous updates and photos. That guy is nothing but a slumlord and he should be taken to task. Should that place be shutdown, I thought perhaps with all the coverage in the local paper, that someone out there who owns property would maybe step up and help those people out. I was curious, though, how was this disgusting thing brought to light? And also, a great job on the editorial on the front page recently. That spot was well deserved and I’m glad someone’s taking a stand for these residents. Thanks, Red Phone, for letting me vent.”
Red Phone:
Anytime, caller. It hopes you feel better.
The Red Phone couldn’t agree with you more about the foul living conditions of the residents at Velladao Mobile Home Park. As to your question, some of the residents came into the Dispatch office – after previous attempts to get the problem corrected – and a Dispatch reporter grabbed the story by the horns.
Pay attention
“I just wanted to mention the Welburn and Wren avenue intersection. I have witnessed so many times where cars simply do not stop for pedestrians trying to cross the street. I’ve stopped for pregnant ladies pushing baby buggies and waited for them, and while they were crossing cars from the other side started to go. It’s every day. And when I take my kids for a walk, we sometimes have to wait 4 or 5 rows of cars go through the lights before we can cross. I just wanted to bring that up and ask that people pay a little more attention to the people crossing and not be in such a hurry. Thanks.”
Red Phone:
There’s your call and your request.
