The heat dome that has been gripping much of the country for over a week continues to create dangerous conditions for millions.
On average, 181 people die from heat-related illness each year in the U.S., with children being among the most vulnerable. A child’s body heats up three times as quickly as an adult’s.
Approximately 40 children die in hot cars each year, which equates to about one child every nine days, with most of them being under the age of 3.
Since 1990, over 1,000 children have perished in hot cars. In nearly every case, a caring parent inadvertently left the child in the backseat.
“It’s one of those things that nobody really believes could happen to them because if you love your children, you think about them all the time. The idea of losing awareness that they’re with you or forgetting about them is just impossible. And what we know after studying this issue for 30 years and working with families that it’s happened to, is that this can happen to even the most loving, responsible, educated, attentive parent,” said director of nonprofit Kids and Car Safety Amber Rollins.
A change in routine, lack of sleep, stress, and other distractions are just some of the reasons these tragedies occur.
“It doesn’t have to be a significant change in routine. It could be something as minor as receiving a phone call in the car or taking a detour, a different route to work,” Rollins said.
For the past two decades, Kids and Car Safety has been advocating for Congress to mandate automakers to install technology in new vehicles that would detect and alert parents if a child is in the backseat.
But the fight continues.
Preventing hot car deaths in children
There are some simple habits that can keep your child safe:
- Place the diaper bag in the front seat as a visual cue.
- You can also put a personal item in the back seat, like your employee ID badge or cell phone.
- Another precaution is to ask your child care provider to call you immediately if your child is not at the facility.
The interior of a car can rapidly reach 125 degrees in minutes on a summer day. And conditions do not have to be scorching hot. Children have died when outside temperatures were just 60 degrees.
Until lawmakers mandate heat safety detectors in vehicles, which is making some progress, the best things parents can do for now are visual cues to prevent these terrible tragedies.
Heat is the number one weather-related killer overall.
