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Car Safety for Children and Infants

Today on WINK I discussed car safety for children and infants. We ran out of time, so I will post the important information about children being left in a hot car.

http://winknews.com/2015/07/23/healthy-kids-preventing-child-car-deaths/

Preventable and heartbreaking deaths happen when children are left alone in hot cars. Here in the US, more than 600 children have died that way since 1990.

No Exceptions, No Matter How Brief:

  • Inconvenient but necessary
  • Important for pets and children
  • Greenhouse effect – gets hot very fast
  • Children are more susceptible than adults
  • Children cannot cool through sweating easily
  • Pets are even more vulnerable to heat.

Know What Can Go Wrong:

  • In 1 hour, temperature inside a car can increase 30-40 degrees
  • 70% of increase occurs in first 30 minutes
  • Heat stroke occurs when body temperature passes 104 degrees
  • Symptoms: dizziness, disorientation, agitation, seizure, LOC, death

Bystander? Get Involved:

  • If you see a child in a car alone, call 911 immediately.
  • If in distress, get child out ASAP.
  • Get a device to break the window.
  • More safety standards need to be in place.

Remind Yourself:

  • I do have a child in the car.
  • Put your left shoe or phone next to the car-seat.
  • Put a sticky on your purse or briefcase.
  • Put the diaper bag next to your seat.
  • Open the back door before leaving your car.
  • Routine is the key.

Prevent Kids From Wandering Into the Car:

  • Always lock your car. Even in the garage.
  • Keep children away from cars when playing outside.
  • Keep car keys/remotes away from children.
  • 30% of children who die in hot cars enter on their own.

Other Safety Measures:

  • Ask Daycare to call you if your child doesn’t arrive one day.
  • When a child is missing, check all vehicles immediately.
  • Use drive-through services when available.
  • Use a debit or credit card and pay at the pump for gasoline.
  • Keep a large stuffed animal in the car-seat when not being used.
  • Put it in the front seat when your child is in the car-seat.