With temperatures soaring over 110 degrees, Rural/Metro Fire Department has seen a dramatic increase in the number of children and pets that have been looked inside unattended vehicles. Please do your part this summer to stop these preventable and tragic emergencies.
• NEVER LEAVE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN A VEHICLE. NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE!
• IF YOU SEE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN A HOT VEHICLE CALL 9-1-1.
• Be sure that all occupants leave the vehicle when unloading. Don’t overlook sleeping babies.
• Always lock your car and ensure children do not have access to keys or remote entry devices. Teach children that vehicles are never to be used as a play area.
• IF A CHILD IS MISSING, ALWAYS CHECK THE POOL FIRST, AND THEN THE CAR, INCLUDING THE TRUNK.
• Keep a stuffed animal in the carseat and when the child is put in the seat place the animal in the front with the driver. Or place your purse, briefcase or cell phone in the back seat as a reminder that you have your child in the car.
• Make “look before you leave” a routine whenever you get out of the car.
By the Numbers (Nationwide)
• Total number of U.S. heatstroke deaths of children left in cars, 2014: 30
• Total number of U.S. heatstroke deaths of children left in cars, 1998-present: 641
• Average number of U.S. child heatstroke fatalities per year since 1998: 37
• Roughly 50% of all incidents of children being left unattended in a car are related to a caregiver “forgetting”.
In the period of 1998 through 2014, a total of 636 infants and children died of heatstroke inside hot motor vehicles. Who was more likely to forget?
At 100 degrees outside, a vehicle can reach 140 degrees inside within 5 minutes.
Like a child drowning, incidents of children and pets being locked inside a hot vehicle are 100% preventable. Remember, “Look before you leave.”