It’s extremely easy to judge their parents and caregivers and think this, “This could never happen to me!” But we live in a busy and distracted world, and with any change of routine, babies and little kids can sleep so peacefully that you can easily forget they are there.
As we know from recent news stories, leaving a child alone in a car can lead to serious injury or death from heatstroke. Young children are particularly at risk because their bodies heat up three-to-five times faster than an adult’s. Temperatures inside a car can rise 19 degrees in only 10 minutes.
Over the past 25 years, more than 950 children have died of heatstroke because they were left or became trapped in a hot car.
These tragedies are completely preventable. By using these tips from Safe Kids, we can all work together to prevent deaths from heatstroke, which is the leading cause of non-cash, vehicle-related deaths in children. On average, a child dies from heatstroke in a vehicle every 10 days. Read on for a few tips from Safe Kids Northeast Florida.
Remember to ACT
A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. And make sure to keep your car locked when you’re not in it so that kids can’t get in it on their own.
C: Create reminders by putting something important in the back of your car next to your child. Items such as a briefcase, a purse, or a cell phone would all be needed at your final destination. This is especially important if you’re not following your normal routine.
T: Take action! If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel want you to call because they are trained to respond to these situations and to evaluate a child for signs of heatstroke. One call could save a life.
Create Extra Reminders and Communicate with Daycare
- Create a calendar reminder for your electronic devices to make sure you dropped your child off at daycare.
- Develop a plan with your daycare so that if your child is late, you’ll be called within a few minutes. Be especially careful if you change your routine for dropping off children at daycare.
Teach Kids Not to Play in Cars
- Make sure to lock your vehicle, including doors and trunk, when you’re not using it. Keep Keys and remote entry fobs out of children’s sight and reach.
- Teach kids that trunks are for transporting cargo and are not safe places to play.
- If your child is missing, get help and check swimming pools, vehicles, and trunks. If your children are locked in a car, get them out as quickly as possible and dial 911 immediately.
Dear Megan,
I am an inventor and came up with a device called the Backseat Baby Alarm as backup insurance for parents. It works just like our cars do now when we are about to forget something, ,sounding a music box like chime when you open your car door to get out if earlier you placed a child in the back. Its the least expensive, most reliable device available. You can see further details on the website at http://www.backseatbabyalarm.com