Car Seat Heat Related Injuries

Far too many children have been inadvertently forgotten in hot vehicles or have gotten into a vehicle on their own. Car heat stroke tragedies change the lives of parents and families forever. On average, 38 children die in hot cars each year from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside vehicles. Even the best parents or caregivers can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car and the end result can be injury or death.

Children are particularly at risk as their bodies heat up three to five times faster than adult’s. Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving your child alone in a car, not even for a minute.

The results of a recent survey, published on the SafeKids.org website stated that:

• 14% of parents have intentionally left their children in a parked car.
• 11% of parents admit to forgetting their child in a car.
• Nearly 1 in 4 parents of a child younger than 3 has forgotten the child in a car.
• Dads are nearly three times more likely than moms to leave a child in a parked car.

There are things you can do to help prevent these tragedies.

• Place a large stuffed animal in your child’s car seat when not in use. When you put your child into the seat, move the stuffed animal to the front seat as a reminder your child is in the back.

• Take off your left shoe and put it in the back seat. As you exit the car you will be reminded to retrieve your left shoe and your child from the back seat.