As temperatures continue to heat up this summer, Dr. Purva Grover, emergency medicine physician for Cleveland Clinic Children’s, is reminding parents about the dangers of leaving their child in a hot car.
It may sound like common sense, but every year multiple deaths are reported.
“It’s heart wrenching when this happens because it’s usually a very tired or exhausted parent juggling 17 things and this is the most horrible feeling to come to terms with,” Dr. Grover says. “One would think how does that happen, but it happens.”
Dr. Grover says there are so many different scenarios where a parent or caregiver could forget a child in the backseat. For example, maybe they aren’t normally the one who takes the child to daycare and went straight to work instead.
And it’s not just outside temperatures that are the concern. Even on a 70-degree day, the inside of a car can reach more than 115 degrees.
To help prevent such a tragic accident, she recommends leaving something like your purse, shoe or cellphone in the backseat. She knows it seems strange, but if it’s something you immediately need when you get out of your vehicle, you’ll be more inclined to not forget.
“As a bystander, if you see something, do not hesitate; to be polite, this is none of my business — this could save a life, so call the police, call whoever you need to,” she says. “Get these kids out as soon as you can and take them to the appropriate medical facility if exhaustion and or fatigue has set in.”
Dr. Grover also advises parents to lock up their vehicles once they park. Children have died after climbing inside while playing and have accidentally gotten trapped.
Here are some additional safety tips from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
1. Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. Rolling windows down or parking in the shade does little to change the interior temperature of the vehicle.
2. Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — especially the back seat — before locking the doors and walking away.
3. Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn’t show up for care as expected.
4. Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger’s seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
5. Store car keys out of a child’s reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.
6. Secure Your Car. Everyone should lock their car doors, year-round, so children can’t get into unattended vehicles.
7. If you see a child alone in a locked car, act immediately and call 911. A child in distress due to heat should be removed from the vehicle as quickly as possible and rapidly cooled.
