New Marshall County EMS Station, Safe Haven Baby Box Blessed
Shelley Hanson Trending
The opening of the Marshall County EMS Base Station and a new Safe Haven Baby Box, which is the first of its kind in West Virginia, was celebrated Tuesday in Moundsville.
Marshall County Commission President Mike Ferro said the base station was formerly a model house used by a construction company. The county retrofitted it for the EMS station's needs, including installing bays for ambulances and a fire safety sprinkler system.
One addition, the first of its kind in the Mountain State, was the installation of a Safe Haven Baby Box on the side of the EMS building, located at 6 Tomlinson Ave.
A mother in crisis who feels the need to give up her baby can open the door and place the baby into the box. A silent alarm automatically rings after a few seconds to the 911 Center to alert the first responders that a baby has been placed in the box.
The door will then lock on the outside and a door on the inside of the building can be opened by the first responders to retrieve the baby.
Sadee Church, a paramedic with the Marshall County EMS Base Station, said she came up with the idea of getting the box after seeing the company's founder, Monica Kelsey, talk about it on social media. Kelsey was also on hand for the event.
Church pitched the idea to county officials and they liked it. She noted she was happy to finally see it on the building.
"It's really exciting, especially from a job point of view. Unfortunately we've had those kinds of calls before, and it's very relieving knowing that we have this to combat that a little bit," she said.
Kelsey said she founded her company because she wanted to help moms and their babies who are in tough situations.
"For a parent to say, 'I want what's best for my child and it's not me,' it's heroic and we all should put her up instead of bringing her down," Kelsey said.
Kelsey said her own mother, who was the victim of rape as a teenager, abandoned her two hours after she was born.
"So I stand on the frontlines of a movement securing the safety of these infants and their parents, which is something that I didn't have.
"I know this is my purpose and I've embraced this purpose. ... This is the 179th baby box in the nation and the first in West Virginia," she said.
The box received a blessing from the Rev. Earl Shaw, pastor of First Christian Church of Moundsville.
Ferro noted the county's EMS service is one of the commission's biggest accomplishments. It now consists of four advanced life support ambulances that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to Ferro, commissioners Scott Varner and John Gruzinskas were present. Also participating were Clinton Burley, CEO and president of Healthnet Aeromedical Services, and Roseann Ferro, regional coordinator for Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.