ORANGE : 6-Week-Old Dies at Orangewood Home

A 6-week-old boy died Monday at Orangewood Children’s Home of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the first death ever there, authorities said.

The infant had been brought to Orangewood, the county’s sole emergency facility for physically and emotionally battered children, along with four older siblings on Sept. 29, according to Bob Theemling, the deputy director.

After the baby was discovered not breathing at 4:30 a.m. Monday, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started and emergency medical personnel were called from nearby UCI Medical Center. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Theemling said Orangewood officials had no knowledge of any family history or predisposition for SIDS.

“The child was given a physical examination and there was nothing abnormal,” he said.

Theemling said that there is no effective screening test for SIDS, “and that’s part of the problem.”

Theemling said that, according to the county health department, over the last few years the county has averaged 45 to 73 SIDS death per year.

“Given the number of babies we see over a year’s time, we’re probably fortunate that we haven’t had this happen before,” he said.

The baby’s older siblings, who range in age from 2 to 6, met with their parents and a mental health team assigned to Orangewood to talk about the death, Theemling said.

“The younger kids don’t understand,” Theemling said. “The parents were supportive of the kids.”

Theemling said that the children were brought to Orangewood because “the parents were overwhelmed by things that were going on with their family.”