The Piedmont Fire Department is now a designated location where newborns less than 72 hours may be confidentially surrendered by a parent or guardian having lawful custody of the infant without fear of criminal prosecution.
Previously, county protocol only allowed for "safe haven" surrender at hospital emergency departments.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Jan. 25 that approves all Alameda County fire stations as safe havens.
Cities throughout the county are expected to pass local resolutions authorizing their fire stations to become designated locations for surrendering newborns.
The Piedmont City Council passed such a resolution on March 7.
"It's not like we expect to have babies dropped off at the door, but if it happens, we're going to be prepared for it," said Piedmont Fire Department Lt. Lori Davis.
"We would much rather have a baby handed off to us on our doorstep than to find it in an extreme situation," she said.
Piedmont's responsibility will be to accept the surrendered child, provide any necessary medical intervention, and arrange for immediate transfer to the appropriate hospital.
In addition, fire department staff will provide the surrendering parent or guardian with a voluntary newborn medical questionnaire, a fact sheet about surrendering newborns and a copy of the coded, confidential ankle bracelet placed on the infant.
The bracelet helps identify the child if the surrendering parent or guardian changes their mind during a 14-day cooling off period.
"If they sort things out, they can come back and claim the baby with no questions asked," Davis said.
Newborn safe surrender kits containing the medical questionnaires, fact sheets and wrist bracelets, as well as signage to be posted at the Piedmont Fire Department, will be given to the city by the county.
Special training will be provided to the fire department staff during the department's normal training schedule.
"The training is so that we can provide emotional support to the mother," Davis said. "We want to make sure the mother doesn't feel looked down upon or that we're judging her in any way."
Davis backs the move to include county fire stations as safe haven sites.
"We're on every corner. You don't have to travel far to get to a fire station," she said.
Distributed by the Associated Press
