{"id":13628,"date":"2022-07-01T09:44:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T15:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=13628"},"modified":"2022-06-30T13:46:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T19:46:54","slug":"dont-leave-children-unattended-in-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=13628","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Leave Children Unattended in Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Likelihood of heat stroke, death rises with temperatures<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Adults must take extra efforts to remember not to leave a child unattended in a vehicle, especially on hot days. (Photo courtesy National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Written by Paul Schattenberg<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each year, children get heat stroke or die from being left unattended in a hot car, but a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service passenger safety expert says there are ways to avoid tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Bev Kellner, AgriLife Extension traffic safety project director, said as temperatures increase, so does the likelihood of heat stroke and death for children left alone in a vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cChildren are especially vulnerable to heatstroke,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd Texas has a greater overall number of child deaths from children being left in hot cars than any other state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


She said temperatures in parked vehicles rise very quickly, and a child\u2019s body temperature increases three to five times faster than an adult\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThat combination can be deadly, and in hot weather, the temperature inside a vehicle can increase by almost 20 degrees in as little as 10 minutes,\u201d Kellner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


She noted children are far more vulnerable to heatstroke than adults, even when exterior temperatures are not excessively hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cHyperthermia or heat stroke can occur at body temperatures above 104 degrees, and even milder exterior temperatures of as low as 80 degrees can pose a threat if a vehicle is parked outside,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd contrary to popular belief, cracking a window does little or nothing to dispel the heat from the interior of the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Tips for avoiding child hot-car deaths
<\/em>Kellner said more than half of child deaths from hot cars are due to caregivers forgetting they had a child in the vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThese deaths are entirely preventable if a few precautions are taken,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Kellner preaches the \u201cACT\u201d approach of the Safe Kids Worldwide organization to reduce the possibility of a child being left alone in a hot vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The \u201cA\u201d stands for avoiding heat stroke-related injury and death by never leaving a child alone in a car, not even for a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The \u201cC\u201d is for creating a visual reminder that a child is in the back seat \u2014 placing a phone, gym bag, briefcase, purse or other frequently used items in the back seat with the child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The \u201cT\u201d stands for taking action, particularly calling 911 if you see a child alone in a vehicle.
\u201cAnd if your own child is locked in a car, get him or her out as quickly as possible and dial 911 immediately,\u201d Kellner said. \u201cEmergency personnel are trained to evaluate and check for signs of heat stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Kellner and Safe Kids offered these additional safety tips:<\/em><\/li>
  • Teach children not to play in and around vehicles.<\/li>
  • Instruct children that trunks are for transporting cargo and are not safe places to play. If your child is missing, check vehicles, trunks and other potentially dangerous places.<\/li>
  • Never leave keys in the car and store them out of children\u2019s sight and reach.<\/li>
  • Make sure your vehicle is locked while nobody is using it so kids can\u2019t get into it on their own.<\/li>
  • If you have a small child, always look in the vehicle \u2014 front and back \u2014 before locking the door and walking away.<\/li>
  • When parking a multi-passenger vehicle, ensure no children are sleeping on the seats or hiding under them.<\/li>
  • Identify and use safe play areas for children \u2014 away from parked or moving vehicles.<\/li>
  • Look into technologies that can help remind you that a child is in the back seat, such as the WAZE traffic app reminder and sensor systems.<\/li>
  • Kellner said other ways to help avoid children being accidentally locked in hot vehicles are to use drive-thru services when available and pay for gas at the pump with a debit or credit card instead of going inside.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Likelihood of heat stroke, death rises with temperatures Written by Paul Schattenberg Each year, children get heat stroke or die from being left unattended in a hot car, but a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service passenger safety expert says there are ways to avoid tragedy. Bev Kellner, AgriLife Extension traffic safety project director, said as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67],"class_list":["post-13628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13628"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13630,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13628\/revisions\/13630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}