A searing heatwave is on the horizon. Temperatures are predicted to reach 113 over the weekend in parts of Southern California, prompting health officials to issue a heat warning.
Heat can affect anyone, but vulnerable groups like babies and young children run the risk of serious harm. The risk is exacerbated when they’re in a vehicle.
Nationwide, 11 children have died so far in 2023 from vehicular heatstroke, according to NoHeatStroke.org, a site through San Jose State University that tracks pediatric vehicle heatstroke deaths.
“Leaving a kid unattended in a vehicle can cause serious harm because within minutes temperatures within a car can increase significantly — a 19-degree increase in temperature within 10 minutes,” said Susan Kurian, a regional health officer with Public Health. Her area covers the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys, which are among the areas that are under heat watches, advisories or warnings.
“Whatever the temperature might be outside, convert that,” she said.
Rear-facing car seats are safer and recommended for babies and toddlers, but they can mean a sleep-deprived parent won’t see their kids from a quick glance in the rearview mirror and may get out of the car without them.
“It’s often parents who are extremely distracted, especially those who have young children,” Kurian said.
Not all children are left in vehicles accidentally. Of the 951 children in the U.S. who have died from vehicular heatstroke since 1998, about half were forgotten by their caregiver. A quarter gained access to the car on their own and 20% were “knowingly left by a caregiver.”
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