SAN ANTONIO – As temperatures heat up, it’s a good reminder to take some safety precautions to protect your children from heat-related injuries or death.
Children’s body temperature heats up five times faster than an adult so it’s important to stay vigilant.
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According to Safe Kids, when a child’s internal temperature reaches 104 degrees, major organs begin to shut down, and when the temperature reaches 107 degrees, the child can die.
Even on mild days, the heat inside a vehicle can increase by nearly 20 degrees within 10 minutes and continue to get hotter.
A.C.T. can save lives
Safe Kids Worldwide has the following advice for keeping kids safe from hot cars.
- Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving a child alone in a car, not even for a minute. And make sure to keep your car locked when you’re not inside so kids don’t get in on their own.
- Create reminders. Keep a stuffed animal or other memento in your child’s car seat when it’s empty and move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat. Or place and secure your phone, briefcase or purse in the backseat when traveling with your child.
- Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel want you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations
Other tips:
- Kids are natural explorers, keep your parked vehicle doors lock
- Make sure to keep you keys out of reach
- If your child becomes trapped inside a vehicle, teach them to honk the horn for help
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