Watch: Agencies Unite, Combat Overlay Infant Deaths
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Richland Co., S.C. (WOLO) —
Whether it’s bonding with your baby or soothing them to sleep, officials say sharing a bed with an infant isn’t safe under any circumstance.
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts explains, “A small infant like that cannot get out from underneath a parent, a sibling, a small pet or a large pet and they end up suffocating.”
Watts, along with the Solicitor and Sheriff formed the Child death response team a year and a half ago to investigate each and every child death.
Since 2015 the team says they’ve seen 11 infant deaths in the county due to unsafe sleeping conditions, the majority of which didn’t involve intoxication of any kind.
Doctors says stopping these child deaths is simple.
“Alone, put them on their back and in the crib and we add a little C saying clear crib. Don’t put anything in that crib,” says Doctor Olga Rosa.
This and other information on safe sleeping environments for infants is included in a video created by the Coroner’s office in an effort to save lives during sleep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApCkhm9GalU
