Child Safety: Hot Cars and Heatstroke Awareness
Each summer, Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health sees incidents involving children in hot cars spike. A near miss occurs when a child is rescued from a car in time to prevent serious injury or death. Any child unattended in a motor vehicle can be at risk for injury. According to the National Safety Council the number of child hot car deaths for 2023 was 29. On average, 38 children under the age of 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle. Nearly every state has experienced at least one death since 1998.
Facts about Heatstroke
The temperature inside a car can rise much more quickly than the outdoor temperature. This is true in a closed car, or even one with an open window. Research shows a car’s interior temperature can rise nearly 20 degrees in 10 minutes. Also, a child’s temperature rises faster than an adults would. A child can suffer permanent brain damage, organ damage, or die within minutes of being left in a hot car.
Since 1998, more than 740 children across the United States have died from heatstroke while unattended in cars. Help us spread the word to your community to stop these preventable tragedies.
Tips to Avoid Pediatric Heatstroke
Safe Kids OKC Metro and Oklahoma Children's Hospital want to remind parents and caregivers to never leave a child alone in a car, not even for a minute. Parents and caregivers can cut down the number of deaths and near misses by remembering to ACT:
A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving a child alone in a car, not even for a minute. Make sure to keep your car locked when you’re not inside so kids don’t get in on their own.
C: Create reminders. Keep a stuffed animal or other memento in your child’s car seat when it’s empty and move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat. Or place and secure your phone, briefcase or purse in the back seat when traveling with your child.
T: Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel want you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations. One call could save a life.
Oklahoma Children's Hospital and Safe Kids OKC Metro are working to ensure that no child is alone in a car, not even for a minute. We’re participating in an education and awareness program that provides posters and tip sheets at childcare centers, doctor’s offices and hospitals and police and fire stations.
Resources for Heat-Related Emergencies in Kids
Take preventative measures and recognize the warning signs to protect young ones from heat-related illnesses. Below are resources to help understand heat-related incidents and where to seek treatment.
- Read “Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Back seat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?” by Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Staff Writer.
