Preventing Accidental Injury. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 7, 2010 Contact: Cherie Sage, 785-296-1223, or Daina Hodges, 785-296-0351

Safe Kids Kansas Reminds Parents that Hot Weather and Vehicles can be
a Deadly Combination for Kids

Overheating Deaths Are Preventable with A Few Important Tips

Topeka, Kan. -- A few minutes might not seem like a long time, but there are circumstances when it can mean the difference between life and death.  As temperatures begin to heat up, children are at a serious risk for heat stroke when left alone even for a few minutes in a closed vehicle. Between 1998 and 2009, 445 children died from heat stroke because they were left unattended in vehicles that became too hot for them to survive.  That’s an average of 37 child deaths per year.  As summer approaches and temperatures soar, Safe Kids Kansas reminds parents and caregivers to always check for sleeping children before leaving a vehicle.

“A child is our most precious cargo and drivers must know that these deaths and injuries are entirely preventable,” said Cherie Sage, State Director of Safe Kids Kansas. “Our hearts go out to every family that has lost a child in this way. No one ever thinks it would happen to them, and that is why it’s essential to get this message out, especially as the weather starts heating up.”

Heat is much more dangerous to children than it is to adults. When left in a hot vehicle, a young child’s core body temperature may increase three to five times faster than that of an adult, making them more susceptible to heat stroke – even on a day with mild temperatures.  This could cause permanent injury or even death. Heat stroke occurs when the core body temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit.  A core body temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit is considered lethal.

"The inside of a vehicle can rise 19 degrees above the outside temperature in just 10 minutes,” said Sage. “After an hour, the temperature inside and outside of a vehicle can differ by 45 degrees or more – even if the window is left open a crack.”

While some children are intentionally left in vehicles, mostly by parents or caregivers who simply do not understand the danger, more than 50 percent of the children who died from heat stroke were forgotten by a parent or caregiver who became distracted when they left the vehicle.  While no parent can imagine forgetting their child in a vehicle, busy schedules and changes in daily routines can mentally distract a person, allowing them to forget their child or to think they have already dropped them off at childcare. Also, drivers must keep car doors locked and keys out of reach from young children at all times.  When unattended by an adult, 30 percent of the affected children gained entry into an unlocked vehicle, became trapped and were overcome by heat.

Safe Kids Kansas urges all adults to take the following steps:

• Teach children not to play in, on, or around vehicles.
• Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle, even with the window slightly open – even for a minute.
• Place something that you’ll need at your next stop – such as a purse, a lunch, gym bag or briefcase – on the floor of the backseat near where the child is seated.   (Be sure to keep items out of reach of the child to prevent accidental choking or poisoning.)  This simple act could help prevent you from accidentally forgetting a child.
• Have a plan with your childcare provider that if your child is late on a day they are expected to be in care that you will be called within a few minutes.  In addition, set a daily alarm on your cell phone, PDA, or computer to ask, “Did you drop your child off at daycare today?”
• Always lock a vehicle’s doors and trunk – especially at home. Keep keys and remote entry devices out of children’s reach.
• Check cars and trunks first if a child goes missing.
• Call 911 if you see a child unattended in a vehicle.

To see a demonstration of how quickly a car heats up in moderate temperatures, please visit www.ggweather.com/heat.  For more information about safety in and around vehicles, call 785-296-1223 or visit www.usa.safekids.org.

Safe Kids Kansas, Inc. is a nonprofit Coalition of over 70 statewide organizations and businesses dedicated to preventing accidental injuries to Kansas children ages 0-14.   Local coalitions and chapters cover Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Butler, Clay, Coffey, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Elk, Ellis, Finney, Geary, Harvey, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pottawatomie, Riley, Saline, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Smith, Sumner, and Wilson counties, as well as the city of  Emporia and the Metro Kansas City Area (Wyandotte county and several Missouri counties.)  Safe Kids Kansas a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury. The lead agency for Safe Kids Kansas is the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Visit us at www.safekidskansas.org and on Facebook.