With hot temperatures on the horizon, it's a good time to think about your child's safety when traveling. Whether it's to the store, daycare or a family trip -- being mindful of your child's whereabouts should be a top priority.
According to Safe Kids Worldwide, during 2013 in the United States, 44 children died from heat stroke after being left in vehicles. A vehicle can reach life-threatening temperatures in minutes -- even if it's only 70 degrees outside.
The good news is heat stroke can be prevented if parents, families and community members are vigilant.
Often memory lapses occur when the driver is fatigued, distracted or there is a change in the normal routine. While children are riding in the back seat -- a requirement that has saved many lives -- even more responsibility is put on the driver to ensure a child is not forgotten in the vehicle.
'Look Before You Lock'
KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit child safety organization, offers several "Look Before You Lock" safety tips that may help parents and caregivers remember to double-check the back seat for children.
• Always open the back door to your vehicle -- make it a habit. Ensure there is not a child or pet left behind.
• Stuffed animals can help you protect little ones. Keep a stuffed toy in the car seat. When placing the child in the car seat, move the toy to the passenger seat. It's a visual reminder that the car seat is occupied.
• Keep something you will need -- cell phone, ID badge, handbag, briefcase, keys, even your shoes -- in the backseat in front of the child's car seat.
• Have your daycare or babysitter call you within 10 minutes if the child has not arrived at their normal drop-off time.
• Communicate with a spouse or family member to let them know the child was dropped off safely.
• Use the drive-through when available such as banks, restaurants, pharmacies, etc.
• If you have to stop to get gas, pay with a credit or debit card at the pump.
Even children are offering suggestions to help people remember to check their cars. Recently, a Tennessee middle school student, Andrew Pelham, invented the E-Z Baby Saver during a national young inventors contest. He used basic household items to construct a reminder for parents to check their back seat.
How hot?
Temperatures of 125 degrees can be reached within minutes in a parked car -- even if windows are partially open. And a car can heat up 20 degrees in 10 minutes. Even with temperatures as low as 57 degrees -- heat stroke can happen.
Children are more vulnerable to heat stroke because their body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's. When a child's temperature reaches 107 degrees -- it is fatal.
Get involved
Don't be afraid to get involved if you see a child alone in a vehicle. Make sure the child is responsive and OK. If they seem all right, attempt to locate the parents. If you are at a business, have the parents paged over a PA system if possible. If you have someone with you, one person can stay with the child while the other locates the child's family.
If the child seems sick, hot, nonresponsive or in distress get them out of the car as quickly as possible. Call 911 immediately. Once out of the vehicle, cool the child rapidly by spraying them with cool water. Do not put the child in an ice bath.
Don't be afraid to take action. States have Good Samaritan laws that protect people from lawsuits for getting involved while helping a person in an emergency, according to safercar.gov.
Educate the family
It's important to educate everyone in the family about the dangers of playing in cars and being locked in a hot car.
• Never leave a child alone in a car -- at any age -- even if the windows are open.
• Children should be taught that a vehicle is not a play area.
• Be vigilant about looking in the front and back of your vehicle before locking the door and walking away.
• Lock vehicles every time -- even in your garage or driveway.
• Keep car keys and car remotes out of a child's reach.
• If a child is missing, check vehicles and car trunks right away.
• Around holidays, busy times, schedule changes or times of crisis -- be especially observant of a child's whereabouts around vehicles.
-- Lisa Williams is a registered nurse who is director of the Emergency Department at Siloam Springs Regional Hospital.
General News on 07/16/2014