Safe Haven Baby Box installed at Mt. Washington Fire Station

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Safe Haven Baby Box was unveiled in Mt. Washington, becoming the ninth newborn-saving device the state.

The Baby Box, which is a climate controlled and silent alarm system that notifies first responders of a surrendered infant, was installed at Mt. Washington Fire Station 1 at 772 North Bardstown Road. The Baby Box, which the Lions Club of Mt. Washington helped to fund, is located at the front door, on the right side of the building.

"As a firefighter, we go on a number of different rescue calls, different things like that," said Steven Gocke with Mt. Washington Fire Department. "It could be a structure fire. It could be a car accident. It could be an OD (overdose). Now with this opportunity with this Safe haven Baby Box, we have another chance to add another opportunity to possible save or rescue someone in our community."

Safe Haven Baby Boxes said newborns surrendered under the Safe Haven Law are placed with families within 30-45 days. There have been 17 babies surrendered inside Safe Haven Baby Boxes since it was founded in 2016, according to the organization. Another 117 newborns have been surrendered from calls to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes national hotline.

The Safe Haven National Crisis Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-992-2291.