Look Before You Lock Materials Available to Help Prevent Hot Car Deaths
Summer has arrived and so has the extreme heat. Sadly, we read every summer about parents leaving children alone in hot vehicles, leaving many with severe injuries leading to death.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental is in the process of distributing “Look Before You Lock” materials to Safe Kids Coalitions across the state to remind parents and caregivers to never leave a child in a car.
As part of the new safety program, the parent or caregiver wears a tag on the wrist while driving. Once the child is safely removed from the car, the tag gets attached to the harness and is ready for use the next time the child is placed in the car seat.
“The intention is that if a caregiver walks away from the vehicle with the tag still on their wrist, the tag’s presence will alert the caregiver to the fact their child is still in the vehicle,” according to a news release from DHEC.
“A car can heat up nearly 20 degrees in just 10 minutes, and cracking a window doesn’t help,” according to Kevin Poore of Safe Kids South Carolina.
Children are even more vulnerable to hot car deaths than adults, since their body temperature increases as a rate of 3 or 5 times faster than adults.
Another tip for parents and caregivers to prevent hot car deaths is to remember to ACT:
- A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving a child alone in a car. Make sure to keep your car locked when you’re not inside of it, so kids don’t get into it on their own.
- C: 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 back seat when traveling with your child.
- T: Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel wants you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations. One call could save a life.
