Wayne Township fire stations make history with Safe Haven baby boxes
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Wayne Township Fire Department in western Marion County is the first in the nation to install Safe Haven boxes at all of its firehouses.
The township’s first baby box was installed in 2021 and was first used in March 2023. Local donors helped the department secure funding to add the devices to the four remaining stations.
The department’s mission is to save lives while creating a judgement-free way for parents to surrender their newborns safely.
Eric Banister, public information officer for the department, says, when a baby is surrendered, an alarm goes off after 60 seconds to allow privacy to the parent. “We don’t want someone to think, ‘I’ve been seen. I can’t do this’. If they’re surrendering a child, that’s already tough enough. Go ahead and surrender the child. We’ll take care of it. We’ll have a press conference as an announcement strictly to the parent saying, ‘Your child is safe. They’re with us. You’re brave. You did the right thing, and we’ll take it from here.’”
The fire department hopes to help surrounding departments get boxes at all of their stations, too.