OFD gives tips on how to prevent hot vehicle deaths

June 23, 2019 | 3:15 am

Updated June 23, 2019 | 8:15 am

In 2019, 11 children under the age of 15 have already died from heatstroke, according to the National Safety Council. | Graphic by Owensboro Times

Hot vehicle child fatalities reached record-breaking numbers last year, with 52 children dying from heatstroke nationwide. Three of those 52 hot car deaths happened in Kentucky. In 2017, only five hot car deaths were reported across the entire country. In 2019, 11 children under the age of 15 have already died from heatstroke, according to the National Safety Council.

With increased awareness regarding the hot vehicle fatalities, it might seem difficult to understand how more children died in overheated vehicles in 2018, but Owensboro Fire Department Fire Prevention and Community Services Battalion Chief Steve Leonard said most of the hot car fatalities stem from two different circumstances: parents losing track of time and parents being so busy that they unintentionally leave their child in the car.

Leonard said that most of the time, parents and caregivers who purposefully leave their children inside a hot car do so with the intention of being back in a couple minutes’ time. However, Leonard said these people often lose track of the time that has passed.

“The intention of being back in just a minute or two — people lost track of how long they’ve been gone and then it’s been 10, 15 or 20 minutes,” Leonard said. “The thing is, you wouldn’t leave something cooking on your stove while you drive down the street to grab something at the store, would you? You just can’t take that chance with anything living in that car–whether it be a human or an animal.”

The second catalyst causing high numbers of hot car deaths is unintentional, Leonard said, but still preventable.

Parents and caregivers –especially those with multiple children — have unintentionally exited their vehicle without removing a child from the backseat. Leonard said this situation usually revolves around a parent or caregiver being so busy and overwhelmed, they forget they’ve left their child behind.

“People are so busy — they’re focused on 100 different things — that they simply forget, especially if the child is asleep in the backseat,” he said. “You have to do something to make yourself remember. Put something on the dash, a note or a symbol, to remind you that you need to check that backseat before getting out of the car.”

Leonard said symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke can take effect in 10 minutes.

According to data from the 2018 U.S. Child Hot Car Fatalities page, a child’s thermoregulatory system is not as efficient as an adult’s, and his body temperature warms at a rate three to five times faster than an adult’s.

Once the child’s core body temperature reaches 104 degrees, signs of heat exhaustion, including sweating, fatigue and nausea begin to show. Once a child’s temperature reaches 107 degrees, however, heat stroke sets in and the body stops sweating, the cells become damaged, and the internal organs to shut down, which can rapidly lead to death according to the site.

Leonard said leaving a child behind in the car is always a risk, even in the spring and fall. Owensboro sees high temperatures and high humidity levels pretty regularly, exacerbating the risk of hot car deaths. Glass windows attract and trap heat inside most cars, deceiving those who believe the temperature feels normal outside the car.

“Heat-related injuries go up in the summer. It gets very hot in our area. Small children, even when it’s 75 degrees outside and we don’t think it feels that hot, can suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke while inside the car because those temperatures can reach 100 degrees on an average day,” Leonard said. “The humidity index runs so high here, it’s especially dangerous to leave children or pets in any vehicle–even in the Spring or Fall seasons.”

June 23, 2019 | 3:15 am

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