Children can die from heatstroke in cars, either because they were left unattended or they became trapped. Each year in 2018 and 2019, 53 children in the United States died of a vehicular heatstroke.
53% of these deaths happened because someone forgot a child in a car. Now you may be asking yourself how does someone forget a child was in the car. In fact we are sure that the families who have lost a loved one thought the same thing. A study was conducted to find the reason or a trend of why children are being left in vehicles.
46% of the time when the child was forgotten the caregiver meant to drop the child off at daycare or school, and the highest number of deaths happened on Thursdays and Fridays when the caregiver was preoccupied with work thoughts, 54% of the children that died were under 2 years of age.
Vehicular heatstroke deaths don’t just happen when a child is forgotten. The second leading cause of death (26%) were children getting into unattended vehicles and getting trapped inside.
Never leave a child alone in a parked car, even with the windows rolled down or the air conditioning on. The temperature inside a car can reach over 115 degrees when the outside temperatures is just 70 degrees. Also a child’s body temperature can rise three to five times faster than an adult’s.
If you see a child alone in a vehicle, make sure the child is okay and responsive. If they are not call 911 immediately.
Please remember kids and hot cars can be a deadly combination. Don’t take the chance and always look inside of the vehicle before locking the door and walking away.
Original source found here.
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