Safety Council warns of threat to kids in hot cars

You can’t be too safe with children – and with the summer season in full swing we all need to remember to be careful when exiting vehicles. If you have a child do not leave them in the car – kids are more susceptible to heat related medical issues since they cannot regulate their internal temperatures as efficiently as adults.

This problem can be very serious with small children who cannot operate the doors or locks. Leaving them alone can be very dangerous.

 

“The worst thing you can do is think this can’t happen to you,” Fennell says. “This happens to the best of parents.”

Adopting some simple safety tips can save lives. Safety experts recommend:

•Putting your purse, briefcase or other important items on the floor of the back seat in front of the car seat to ensure you open the back door of the vehicle to get your belongings.

•Putting a large stuffed animal in the child seat when it’s not in use and moving it to the front seat when your child is in the car. It will serve as a reminder that the child seat is in use.

•Having your child care provider call you any time your child does not arrive.

•Making a habit of looking in the vehicle — front and back — before locking the door and walking away.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths for children under the age of 14

Children are at a particular risk for vehicular heatstroke, a form of hyperthermia, because “their body can’t regulate temperature as well as adults,’ ” says Amy Artuso Heinzen, program manager at the NSC, a non-profit group chartered by Congress.

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