July 1 is National Heatstroke Prevention Day

Did you know that since 1998, nearly 850 children have died in hot cars, including 13 children in Florida in just the last three years?

To bring awareness to the dangers of child heatstroke, July 1, 2020, is National Heatstroke Prevention Day. In addition to a virtual press event held at 12:30 p.m. by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and national safety advocates, Safe Kids Palm Beach County will provide demonstrations of how fast a car can heat up using a thermometer that registers temperatures inside and outside of car.

For an on-camera interview and a demonstration showing how quickly temperatures can soar inside a car, Safe Kids PBC Program Director Kathy Wall is available and can be reached at 561-628-7897. 

The temperature inside a car can reach 125 degrees in just a matter of minutes and a young child’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s body. Eighty-eight percent of all vehicular heatstroke deaths involve children under the age of 4.

About 54 percent of the fatal heatstroke cases involve parents or caregivers who unknowingly left them in the car. Those parents often are operating on autopilot or following routine — causing them to forget a child was in the back seat.

Another 26 percent of all child vehicular heatstroke deaths involve children getting into a car by themselves without an adult knowing.

In addition to providing a live demonstration, Safe Kids Palm Beach County also can offer safety tips for parents. Safe Kids Palm Beach County is a program of Community Partners of South Florida and funded by Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.

Safety tips include:

• Never leave your child alone in a car, not even for a quick trip into the store.
• Keep car doors and trunks locked and key fobs out of reach so children can’t climb into cars on their own. If your child goes missing, check the pool first and then check inside vehicles.
• Create reminders. Place your phone, briefcase or purse in the back seat so you have to look back before you leave your vehicle. Another suggestion is to leave a stuffed animal in the car seat and place it in the front passenger seat after strapping a child in a car seat.
• After you park your car, make a habit of walking around it.
• Ask your childcare provider to give you a call if your child does not show up for school.
• If you ever see a child alone in a car, call 911.

About Safe Kids Palm Beach County

Safe Kids Palm Beach County works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Safe Kids Palm Beach County is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. Safe Kids Palm Beach County was founded in 1988 and is led by Community Partners. Safe Kids Palm Beach County is a program of Community Partners of South Florida and funded by Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County. For more information, visit www.safekids.org or like the Safe Kids PBC Facebook page.