It Happens Fast: Hot Car Danger for Children

Just as with the Drowning Risks and Prevention blog, this week's blog will be a bit more of a public service announcement as opposed to answering an actual parent question. As the mercury keeps rising on these summer days, I notice how hot my car is every afternoon when I get off work. Every time I get in my hot car, I remember that chilling YouTube video entitled One Decision that went viral in 2013. The video depicting how loving parents can easily get distracted, and how it can create disastrous results.  

Statistics on Vehicular Heat Stroke

According to the non-profit safety group KidsAndCars.org, on average, 37 children die each year from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside a car. In addition, from 1990-2015, there were 755 children who died as a result of vehicular heat stroke. This can happen when a child is forgotten and left unattended in a hot car, a parent intentionally left the child in the car while he/she ran a “quick” errand, or because a child climbed into an unlocked car and became trapped in it. Within minutes, the danger can be real.  

Why is it so dangerous to leave a child in a car?  

Two words:  “Greenhouse Effect." According to KidsAndCars.org, the inside of a vehicle heats up extremely quickly.

• The inside temperature can reach 125 degrees in just minutes, with 80% of the increase in temperature happening within the first 10 minutes. Therefore, purposefully leaving a child in the car while you “run in real quick” is NEVER a safe choice.
• Cracking the window does very little to slow down the heating process or to decrease the overall maximum temperature. 
• Children have died from vehicular heat stroke when outside temperatures have been as low as 60 degrees.  

Why are infants and toddlers more susceptible to heat-related deaths?  

• A young child’s body overheats 3-5 times faster than an adult body.  
• Even loving, caring parents are often distracted by changes in routine, lack of sleep, hormone changes, juggling multiple responsibilities, etc., which makes them even more likely to accidentally leave a child in the car.  
• Rear-facing seats look the same whether there is a baby in them or not. When babies fall asleep in this rear-facing position, it is easy to forget that they are back there.  
• The vast majority of children who have died from vehicular heat stroke (87%) have been age 3 years or younger, and 55% of vehicular heat stroke deaths involve children under the age of 24 months.  
• In the majority of child vehicular heatstroke cases (55%), it was a loving, responsible parent who unknowingly left the child in the car resulting in a total of 413 fatalities from 1990-2015. (www.KidsAndCars.org)

Tips to avoid child vehicular heat stroke (from WebMD)

• Never leave a child in a car. It doesn't matter how brief the time period is. As stated earlier, the largest increase in temperature occurs in the first 10 minutes, so just making a “quick trip inside” is never safe.  
• Place a valuable item in the back seat. In researching many websites for this blog, several suggestions for this “valuable in the back seat” have included: 
  • Your left shoe
  • Purse/wallet
  • Cell phone - which provides the added safety bonus of no texting while driving!
  • Keys for push button start cars – my car gives me an alarm if I am about to lock the keys in the car
• Get involved if you are a bystander. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advises bystanders tocall 911 immediately if they spy a child alone in a hot vehicle.  
• Prevent kids from wandering into the car. Lock you car when you leave. Educate children to never play in the car, and keep your keys out of reach. Many children want to “drive like mommy or daddy," so they will want to get inside the car to pretend play. Unfortunately, they can also become accidentally locked in the car with disastrous consequences.
• If a child does become missing, always check the car first. Once again, the car is an attractive but dangerous play area, where the stakes can become very high very quickly. If you notice your little is missing, always check nearby vehicles first.  

Want more information on how to keep your children safe around cars? Follow the links below:  
Heat Stroke, KidsandCars.org, (accessed June 2016)
Dangers of Heatstroke, KidsandCars.org, (accessed June 2016)
Danger: Kids Left in Hot Cars. WebMD, (accessed June 2016)  

About the Author:
Melissa Foster is the leading contributor to Children’s Therapy TEAM’s Weekly Blog. She is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist with over a decade of experience in the field. An active public advocate in the NWA community, Melissa addresses topics related to Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder and general health and child development.

Drowning Risk and Prevention

This week's blog is not a parent question. Rather, it was a request my own mother made last year - to run a water-safety blog at the beginning of summer each year. So, in discussing the special needs child: drowning risks and prevention, I begin with current statistics on drowning.

According to the CDC (downloaded June 2016):

• From 2005-2014, there were an average of 3,536 fatal unintentional drownings annually in the United States —about ten deaths per day.  
• Approximately one in five people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger. 
• Drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among children between 1-4 years of age.  
• For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.

*  More than 50% of drowning victims treated in emergency departments (EDs) require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with a hospitalization rate of about 6% for all other unintentional injuries). These nonfatal drowning injuries can cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (i.e., permanent vegetative state).

Drowning is of particular concern for children with Autism.  

According to the National Autism Association (June 2016), the risk of death by drowning is twice as high for children with ASD than in the general population. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91% of injury-related deaths in the U.S among children with ASD ages 14 years and younger. Many factors contribute to this high mortality rate, including wandering, seizures, and a general lack of safety awareness.  

What should we do?

Here are some things you can do to help protect your children:  

• Teach your kids to swim! For families with children with special needs, the comparatively high risk of drowning makes learning to swim even more imperative. As a life skill, learning to swim can be a goal targeted with a child's occupational therapist and/or physical therapist. Children's Therapy TEAM's Aquatic Center is a great point of reference for families who seek an option specifically designed and individualized for their child with special needs. There are also options such as the Boys & Girls Club, American Red Cross, private pools/clubs (you don’t always have to be a member to participate), local colleges/universities, word of mouth private teachers, etc.

• Know your child’s personality/abilities. Does your child have Autism, ADHD, or is he impulsive? Know your child’s temperament and if he tends to be a risk-taker or not. If he is the risky type, be even MORE vigilant than you would otherwise. However, don’t just assume that your very timid child who won’t even put his face in the water is automatically safe because he is timid. For example, my extremely timid 6 year old son was drying off one day after a swim lesson at a public pool. I turned my back for just a minute, and found him clinging to the side of the pool. In the water. At the deep end! (Insert heart attack here!)

• Underestimate your child’s swimming ability. Yes, your child may have passed the check list as a beginner swimmer, and yes, he may be able to swim across the deep end of the pool. But don’t just assume that he can swim well enough to keep himself safe. When it comes to water safety, maintain extra vigilance with less than ideal swimming conditions such as the lake, swim parties, canoeing, the ocean, etc. It is also important to share your child’s swimming abilities (or lack thereof) with any camp counselors, babysitters, or family friends who might be taking your child swimming. It is always a good idea to insist that your child wear a life jacket, just in case. Yes, many children will balk at the idea of continued use of the life jacket, but the rules are there for a very important reason.

• Watch for both a LACK of supervision as well as a LAPSE in supervision. Another personal true story:  When my daughter was 3 years old, we went swimming with extended family while on a vacation. I was actually IN the water, sitting on the pool steps, my daughter within arm's reach. I turned my head to watch my niece doing a flip in the pool. I turn my head back, and my daughter is completely silent, under water, no splashing. She had simply taken that one step too far toward the deep end, and could no longer keep her head above water in the “shallow end.” Scary. According to Autism/Aspergers Digest, 90% of drowning deaths occur while the child is being supervised. Unlike what you see in the movies, drowning is generally silent. No splashing. No screaming. Silent. Again, scary.

• Make your home pool Fort Knox. The CDC recommends 4-sided fencing at least 4 feet tall. This fence should include a self-closing and self-latching gate, with the latches being out of reach of children. Additionally, move pool furniture away from this fence so that it can’t be used as a step stool. Make sure pool toys are not left in the pool. Install a pool alarm to alert you if the pool water is disturbed. Lock back doors/gates to create additional barriers to the pool area. The more layers of protection you have surrounding the pool, the less likely a child will wander off and decide to go for a dip, alone.  

Yes, swimming is excellent exercise and a great way to cool off in the summer. Just make sure your child is safe and supervised. And by the way, don’t forget the sun block!

Resources:

Children's Therapy TEAM Aquatic Center, Northwest Arkansas 

Swimming Pool Safety, HealthyChildren.org (downloaded June 2016).

Home Pool Safety, American Red Cross (downloaded June 2016).

Water Safety: The Ultimate Life Skill, Autism/Asperger’s Digest, July/August 2010. 

Water Safety at Home, Safe Kids Worldwide, (downloaded June 2016).

Unintentional Drowning: Get the facts, Centers for Disease Control, (downloaded June 2016).