NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Cherie Sage with Safe Kids Kansas reminds us that after a close call in Kansas last month, it's still important to look to be sure children are brought inside and not left in hot vehicles.
"It actually doesn't even have to be that hot to have this happen," Sage said. "The summer schedules tend to be really, kind of disruptive. Kids are going to summer camp, or the family's going to do something different. Schedules tend to be different and less predictable. We call summer the trauma season. It's the most deadly 100 days of the year for kids."
More than half of heatstroke incidents with children in cars are preventable, but you need to plan ahead.
"Never leave a child intentionally alone in a vehicle for any amount of time," Sage said. "Not even if you think you're going to just run into the store for five minutes. Five minutes can turn into ten minutes, can turn into 20 minutes. The inside temperature of a vehicle can raise to dangerous temperatures in just those few minutes. While all of us think, there's no way I could forget my child somewhere, I couldn't forget them in the back of a car, it does happen. It happens more frequently than you would think and a lot of that is just because, with our busy schedules, our mind is on what we are doing."
Tell those responsible for watching your child to contact you.
"If you have someone that's providing care for your child, whether it's a child care provider or it's a grandparent, if they are expecting your child to show up in the morning, if they don't arrive, if you don't show up to drop them off, have a plan in place where they are going to call you and they are going to say, hey, I thought that Jenny was going to be coming today, we were expecting her, is she sick, does she have an appointment, what's going on? In many cases where children have passed away, a call like that could have been lifesaving."
Also, if you see a child in a hot car with no one around, call 911, then they can check it out and make sure everything is okay.
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