Senate OKs Bills to Combat Sudden Infant Death

The Senate unanimously approved a package of bills Monday creating a series of education, training and research programs for combating and coping with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, commonly known as crib death, the state’s No. 1 killer of infants under the age of 1.

Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord), who authored the bills, said at least 800 California babies die each year from SIDS, yet the state allocates only $150,000 a year to the ailment.

Because so little is known about SIDS, he said the grief-stricken parents of dead infants many times have been falsely charged with child abuse by police not accustomed to recognizing the signs of the disease. A victim of the disease may develop a bloody froth around the mouth, he said, or appear black and blue providing evidence to the untrained eye of a “battered” child.

The bills, which now go to the Assembly, would require SIDS education and training for police officers, firefighters, paramedics, public health nurses, coroners and their investigators and emergency room staff in an effort to better prepare them for dealing with parents whose babies have died from the disease.

“More babies are dying annually from SIDS than from birth defects, cancer, heart disease, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and virtually all other diseases combined, yet there is so much ignorance about SIDS,” Boatwright said.

Recounts Child’s Death

To a hushed chamber, Boatwright said his interest in the disease was prompted by the sudden death of a 3-month-old boy, the son of a member of his staff.

The senator said he and staff member Barry Brokaw were lunching last November when they got word of the death of Kevin Brokaw, a 16-pound, 7-ounce infant who had just been examined by doctors and pronounced the “picture of health.”

“A dead baby . . . is a very shocking experience,” he said.

Kevin Brokaw, like most SIDS babies, simply never woke up from his regular two-hour morning nap at a baby-sitter’s house.

Boatwright’s bills would also require autopsies on all babies where SIDS is the suspected cause of death and establish a SIDS advisory task force to advise the Legislature and state agencies in the development of training and education and research projects on the disease.

Both the Senate and Assembly versions of the state budget have allocated $1 million in federal funds to help finance the training programs.