SAFE KIDS Coalition Urges Parents to Never Leave Children Alone in Cars
Minnesota SAFE KIDS Coalition Urges Parents to Never Leave Children Alone in Cars; Rising Temperatures Can Mean Tragedy for Child Left Alone Inside Vehicle
ST. PAUL, Minn., July 11 In the wake of recent incidents involving children left in hot vehicles, the Minnesota SAFE KIDS Coalition, coordinated by the Minnesota Safety Council, is urging adults to be alert to the potential for heat-related injuries. "Parents who think they can leave their child in a car for just a few minutes don't understand that in those few minutes, tragedy can strike," said Amy Carroll-Olson, coordinator of the Minnesota SAFE KIDS Coalition. In a hot vehicle, a young child's core body temperature can increase three to five times faster than that of an adult. At 93 degrees Fahrenheit, even with a window cracked, the temperature inside a car can reach 125 degrees in just 20 minutes and approximately 140 degrees in 40 minutes, Carroll-Olson said. The Minnesota SAFE KIDS Coalition and the Minnesota Safety Council offer the following advice: -- Never leave children unattended in a vehicle, even with the windows down. This applies to pets as well. -- Teach children not to play in or around cars. -- Always lock car doors and trunks -- even at home -- and keep keys out of the reach of children. -- Watch children closely around cars, especially when loading or unloading items. -- Always make sure all child passengers have left the car when you reach your destination. Don't overlook sleeping infants. -- Keep rear fold-down seats closed to help prevent kids from getting into the trunk from inside the car. -- If your vehicle has child-resistant locks, teach older children how to disable the driver's door locks if they become unintentionally trapped. -- Contact your automobile dealership about getting your vehicle retrofitted with a trunk release mechanism. -- If a child does become trapped inside a vehicle, get him or her out immediately and call 911 or other local emergency number. -- When restraining children in a car that has been parked in the heat, check to make sure seating surfaces and equipment (car seat and seat belt buckles) aren't overly hot. -- Shade the seat of your parked car and consider using windshield shades in front and back windows. A free brochure about keeping children safe in and around cars in warm weather, "Never Leave Your Child Alone," is available on the Minnesota Safety Council's Web site at http://www.mnsafetycouncil.org The Minnesota SAFE KIDS Coalition is a part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the first and only national organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury, the number one killer of children ages 14 and under. The Minnesota Safety Council, which coordinates the Minnesota SAFE KIDS Coalition, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization dedicated to making Minnesota safer place to live.