March 05--ST. LUCIE COUNTY -- A 4-day-old healthy infant identified only as Lisa was left at a county fire station on Midway Road on Tuesday night and will end up being offered for adoption, according to the Safe Haven for Newborns of Florida.
Since 2000, Florida law has designated fire departments and hospitals as places where uninjured newborns, 7 days old or younger may be left, no questions asked.
In the past 13 years, 206 infants -- including five on the Treasure Coast -- have been turned in instead of being "abandoned in places such as in dumps or along canals," said Nick Silverio, spokesman for the statewide nonprofit Safe Haven group.
"We're trying to prevent those tragic decisions," he said.
About 8 p.m. Tuesday, firefighter-paramedic Ryan Sapp heard a knock at the door of his fire station on Midway Road east of U.S. 1. He found a man holding a tiny infant with its eyes closed from the bright lights.
The man said he wasn't the father and he was there because the mother wasn't able to take care of the infant.
"We aren't allowed to poke or pry," Sapp said.
"He treated her gingerly. He looked like he was genuinely concerned" before turning and walking away, said Sapp.
"She was quiet and kept her eyes closed most of the time," said Sapp.
He went with the infant to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute for an examination. Then the hospital can turn the child over to a licensed child placement agency, said a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Under state law, it is presumed that parents who leave an infant at a fire station or hospital emergency room are relinquishing their rights to the child. However they have 30 days to reclaim a child. So far only five have in the last 13 years.
Unless there are signs of child abuse, the parents have the right to remain anonymous and may not be followed.
Fire officials said the baby was healthy and didn't show any signs of mistreatment. "She never cried," Sapp said.
The baby girl is the second infant to be left with St. Lucie County fire officials since 2011. On April 21, 2011, a newborn girl was brought to the fire district's administrative offices.
ABANDONED BABIES
Infants taken in by Safe Haven for Newborns of Florida 2000-2013
- Indian River County: 2
- St. Lucie County: 2
- Martin County: 1
- Statewide: 206
Source: Safe Haven for Newborns of Florida
Copyright 2014 - Treasure Coast Newspapers, Stuart, Fla.
