Safe Haven
West Covina Fire Stations are a "Safe Haven" for Newborns
A program to help ensure the safety of newborn infants has been added to the list of services provided by the West Covina Fire Department. All West Covina Fire stations are trained and equipped to receive unwanted newborn infants. This program, named " Safe Surrender," allows the parent or parents of an unwanted infant (72 hours old or less) to bring the baby to any of the City's five fire stations and turn it over to firefighters with no questions asked. All West Covina fire stations display the "Safe Surrender" placard in the front window, as well as a large sign closer to the street.
When an infant is surrendered to firefighters, they accept the infant and assess him or her for any emergency medical conditions. Firefighters ask the parents to fill out a medical questionnaire that provides any future caregivers, information regarding the infant's family medical history. This questionnaire is anonymous and voluntary, but extremely important to the infant's future. Parents are also given a numbered identification bracelet, and an identical bracelet will be placed on the infant. This enables them to claim the infant if they were to change their mind later. At no time during the process will the firefighters be judgmental or accusatory.
This program has been implemented to ensure that parents of unwanted infants have a viable option besides abandoning the newborn. In addition to West Covina fire stations, infants can be surrendered to any hospital or at any Los Angeles County fire station. If you have any additional questions regarding the "Safe Surrender" program, please call West Covina Fire Administration at 626-939-8824.
View additional Information and resources for the Safely Surrendered Baby Program: