Agencies promote in wake of summer

April 27, 2011

By SATARA WILLIAMS The Sun Staff

With temperatures skyrocketing to 100 degrees, there's no doubt that summer is right around the corner.

In an effort to remind parents about the threat of hyperthermia , Cypress Creek EMS (CCEMS) and Safe Kids Greater Houston are lending their support to the Never Leave A Child Alone in a Car (NLYCA) Texas task force.

"Last year, we had 176 incidents where we had to rescue children from cars. Out of those, one of them was a DOS which means dead on the scene," Jennifer Clemonds, community relations with CCEMS, said. "So, it's happening everywhere. It affects everybody of every kind. All it takes is one small distraction."

Although child safety is of the importance all year long, the agencies are warning parents to be particularly conscious during the upcoming months as the heat is expected to increase.

According to experts, the temperature inside a vehicle is oftentimes much higher than the temperature outside.

"It's sort of like a greenhouse effect," Johnny Humphreys, with Safe Kids USA, said. "The light rays and heat goes in but it can't get out because of the windows. So the inside of the car heats up. Studies have shown it can rise by 19 degrees in 10 minutes. After one to two hours, it can increase by 45 to 50 degrees."

With only three months into the New Year, the United States has already suffered a fatality due to hyperthermia. The incident occurred in New Braunfels, Texas.

Last year, the Lone Star State held the record for the most number of child vehicular hyperthermia deaths - including incidents involving children wandering in an unlocked car and getting trapped inside- with 13 occurrences.

"It's not just people forgetting their kids in the car," Clemonds said. "Its people allowing their kids to play in the vehicles and then their kids are actually locking themselves in the vehicles, or they're potentially leaving them in the vehicle to run an errand for like five minutes."

Texas law deems it a crime to leave a child, who is younger than the age of seven and not accompanied with someone who is at least 14-years-old, unattended in a vehicle exceeding a five-minute period.

"Number one, never leave your child alone in a car. Secondly, call 9-1-1 if you see a child has been left alone in a vehicle," Humphreys said. "If you're at the grocery store or even at your place of work, you need to call."

In addition to keeping the keys in a safe place and teaching kids to not play inside a car, parents can take extra measures to ensure their child's safety, according to Clemonds.

"Keep your cell phone, PDA, purse, briefcase, Blackberry or anything that will trigger you, when you open your door to reach for your belongings, on the floor so you'll see your kid in the back," she said. "Set your cell phone or Blackberry to be sure that you dropped your child at daycare. Set your computer calendar program to ask if you dropped the kiddos off at school today."

Want to know more