Undated — An 18-month-old died after being found unresponsive in a vehicle in West Des Moines earlier this month, marking the eighth such hot car child death in the state since 1998. Laura Dunn, a safety specialist with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says a child’s body temperature rises up to five times faster than an adult’s and can quickly reach dangerous levels in a car, even if it’s parked in the shade or the windows are open a crack.
Studies find pediatric heatstroke can happen at temperatures as low as 60 degrees, and a child will die much more quickly if temperatures are in the 80s or 90s.
Dunn suggests parents make an arrangement with their childcare provider that might help prevent a tragedy.
Placing a child’s toy in the front seat with the driver may help to trigger their memory, or better yet, Dunn suggests putting an item you’ll need to have at work in the -back- seat with the child.
A national ad campaign aims to reinforce the message: “Stop. Look. Lock.”
About a quarter of these hot car deaths are cases where the child gets inside the car themselves and can’t get out. To prevent that situation, Dunn suggests always keeping your vehicle’s doors locked and keep the keys or fob up and out of a child’s reach. Click here for more info from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
