Far too many children become victims of heat stroke, sometimes resulting in death, due to being forgotten in hot vehicles or because they have gotten into a vehicle on their own.
Vehicular heat stroke tragedies change the lives of parents, families, and communities forever, and they can be prevented with a few simple staying safe strategies.
On average, 38 children die in hot cars each year from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside a motor vehicle. That works out to one child every nine days. (Obviously there are more in the hot summer months.) One child is too many! Especially when they can be prevented.
Please watch this video for strategies to keep your kids safe:
According to KidsAndCars.org, these are the statistics for the last few years:
Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2009: 33
Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2010: 49
Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2011: 33
Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2012: 33
Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2013 as of 8/15/13: 27 (with one pending autopsy results)
Watch this Rossen Report from the Today Show to see how dangerous this is, and to see how you can break a window to rescue a child trapped in a hot car.
Here is a list of Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org:
- Never leave children alone in or around cars; not even for a minute.
- Put something you’ll need like your cell phone, handbag, employee ID or brief case, etc. on the floor board in the back seat.
- Get in the habit of always opening the back door of your vehicle every time you reach your destination to make sure not child has been left behind. This will soon become a habit. We call this the “Look Before You Lock” campaign.
- Keep a large stuffed animal in the child’s car seat when it’s not occupied. When the child is placed in the seat, put the stuffed animal in the front passenger seat. It’s a visual reminder that anytime the stuffed animal is up front you know the child is in the back seat in a child safety seat.
- Make arrangements with your child’s day care center or babysitter that you will always call if your child will not be there on a particular day as scheduled.
- Keep vehicles locked at all times; even in the garage or driveway and always set your parking brake.
- Keys and/or remote openers should never be left within reach of children.
- Make sure all child passengers have left the vehicle after it is parked.
- When a child is missing, check vehicles and car trunks immediately.
- If you see a child alone in a vehicle, get involved. If they are hot or seem sick, get them out as quickly as possible. Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.
- Be especially careful about keeping children safe in and around cars during busy times, schedule changes and periods of crisis or holidays.
- Use drive-thru services when available. (restaurant, banks, pharmacies, dry cleaners, etc.)
- Use your debit or credit card to pay for gas at the pump.
Keeping our kids safe is a huge responsibility, and as I said in the above video, it’s not “Bad Parents” that these tragedies are happening to. A caring and loving parent or caregiver can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car. It happens. It can be easy to leave a car unlocked and not know a child gets inside. Because the end result can be injury or even death, we must be aware of the possibility and take the precautions to keep our kids safe.
Those of you that aren’t parents, or who have children that are grown, be sure to help those struggling new parents by sharing your wisdom and strategies you used to keep your kids safe.
Remember, keeping children safe is all of our responsibility.
Prevent this from happening to your child with simple safety strategies.
Keep kids safe!
Another video from the Today Show (6/26/17) illustrating the importance of paying attention to where kids are, and not leaving them in cars.
A special thanks to NBC, The Today Show, and Rossen Reports for providing information to help keep people safe.