Guidelines to prevent heatstroke deaths in hot vehicles

Summer is considered the peak season for heatstroke incidents on the East Coast.

Although a hot car can pose health dangers to anyone, children and pets are at greatest risk. The Delaware Office of Highway Safety encourages First State residents and visitors to remember the following tips for preventing deaths in hot vehicles.

• Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle. A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s.
• Ensure all passengers — including pets — are out before locking the vehicle.
• Place a personal item in the back seat as a reminder to “look before you lock.” One in four hot-car deaths happens when a child gets into an unattended vehicle and can’t get out.
• Keep car keys out of a child’s reach.
• Anyone who sees a child or pet in an unattended vehicle should take action or seek help immediately.

Just 10 minutes after a vehicle has been turned off, the inside temperature can rise 20 F — even with a partially open window. Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 F. Death occurs at 107 F or higher.

Over 50% of pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths occur when a parent or caregiver forgets a child is in a vehicle. More than 1,010 children have died of heatstroke over the past 25 years because they were left or became trapped in a hot car.

It’s important for everyone to understand these tragedies can happen to anyone — but they are always preventable.

To learn more, go to nhtsa.gov.