ST. GEORGE —The recent record-breaking temperatures blanketing Southern Utah signals the start of the summer season and also serves as a reminder to parents to never leave a child in a vehicle – even for a minute.
Stock image for illustrative purposes only | Photo by HStarr/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News
The same holds true for our four-legged furry companions.
Heatstroke is one of the leading causes of non-crash-related fatalities among children, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
That said, rising temperatures across Washington County means a parked car can reach 120 degrees or higher within 10 minutes, even with the windows partially open. That rise is so fast, in fact, that 80 percent of a vehicle’s temperature increase occurs within the first 30 minutes, according to data from Heatstroke.org.
Since 1998, more than 970 children have died in hot cars, or roughly 37 children each year on average. That is the equivalent of two deaths a week during the summer months, and more than half of all deaths involved children under 2 years of age.
Last year, 29 children died in hot cars nationwide, down from the 33 children who died of heatstroke in vehicles in the U.S. in 2022. The highest number of deaths per year happened back to back in 2018 and 2019, with 53 deaths during each of those years.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services states that 15 children have died in hot vehicles since 1990, while others have suffered injuries in “close calls.”
One such death was reported in Ogden in September 2022 when a 1-year-old was left in a vehicle for seven hours. She was pronounced dead at Ogden Regional Medical Center, where the hospital staff determined the child’s core temperature reached 107 degrees before her death, according to court records.
During the investigation, detectives determined the temperatures the child was exposed to on the day in question by replicating the conditions present at the time. The vehicle was left in the same parking stall as on the day of the incident, where outside temperatures hovered just above 72 degrees. By 3:30 p.m., the temperature inside of the vehicle had reached 115 degrees.
In American Fork, a 12-year-old disabled child boy died inside a hot car during the summer of 2021. The child had been picked up by a staff member to spend the day at a care center but was left in the at about 11:30 a.m. in 90-degree weather.
More than two hours later, the staff returned to the vehicle and found the boy unresponsive. Emergency personnel responded and attempted life-saving measures that ultimately failed and the child was declared dead at the scene.
Stock image for illustrative purposes only | Photo by BYoungJoo/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News
Nearly 10 years ago, an 11-month-old died in a hot car in Hurricane. Three years later a 2-year-old child died after being left in a van in the Winchester Hills area of Washington County on a hot June day in 2017. The 2-year-old had been attending a family reunion in the area with several families from out of state. When several of the adults noticed the child was not present, and they began searching the residence and surrounding areas and the boy was found deceased in the van by the father.
With schedules becoming busier with activities, vacations and hectic work schedules with the start of summer, accompanied by soring June temperatures can be a recipe for disaster when it comes to safety, particularly for a child who is inadvertently left in a vehicle unattended.
A child’s physiology
Accidental heatstroke tragedies can happen to anyone, but for children, that risk increases dramatically, particularly when caretakers forget a child is in the car.
Understanding why children are more vulnerable to heatstroke than adults is vital since a child’s body heats up 3-5 times faster than an adult’s, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.
Rapidly rising heat overwhelms a child’s ability to regulate his or her internal temperature. As such, a body, especially a small one, can go into shock quickly, and when the body’s core temperature reaches 104 degrees, cells are damaged and organs can begin to fail and at 107 degrees, this cascade of events can rapidly lead to death.
Heatstroke fact sheet outlining data and statistics related to hot car deaths involving children | Image courtesy of No Heat Stroke | St. George News
Studies also indicate that temperatures inside vehicles can be 50 degrees higher than outside temperatures, and even with the windows cracked, the temperature inside a car can reach 130-170 degrees in minutes.
Factors that can lead to tragedy
Most parents would like to believe that they could never “forget” their child in a vehicle, but according to the Kids and Cars website, that is the most dangerous mistake a parent or caregiver can make.
The National Safety Council says there are three primary circumstances resulting in deaths of children in hot cars: a caregiver forgetting a child in a vehicle, a child gaining access to a vehicle or someone knowingly leaving a child in a vehicle.
When broken down, roughly half of all cases involved a child being forgotten in a car, while one-quarter of the deaths involved a child gaining access to a vehicle and another 20% of the cases involved children knowingly left in the car.
There are a number of psychological and neurological factors that can cause responsible people to make fatal errors like leaving a child in a hot car. Some of the most common include: changes in normal routine, lack of sleep, stress, distractions and demands of a busy life. Also, young children, especially babies, often fall asleep in their car seats and become very quiet.
An interruption in the normal routine was one of the primary factors mentioned by Washington City Police Chief Jason Williams, who said that interruption is particularly dangerous when the brain is on autopilot. Distraction is another factor, he said, which can be particularly deadly if it results in a child left in a hot car.
“That should never happen, regardless of how hot it is. A child should never be left alone in a car,” he said.
St. George Police Officer Tiffany Mitchell reiterated children should “never” be left unattended in a vehicle, adding there is no amount of time that is safe to leave a child or animal inside a car.
This is especially true when the vehicle is parked it is much more difficult to keep it cool, especially on hot asphalt, Mitchell said.
Inforgraphic depicting the rise in temperature in side of a closed vehicle relating to hot car deaths | Image courtesy of No Heat Stroke | St. George News
“So don’t assume because the car is cool immediately after parking that it will stay that way,” she said.
Keeping vehicles locked can also prevent curious children from getting in the vehicle unnoticed, she added, because oftentimes they are unable to get themselves out of the vehicle and can become trapped.
Also, putting reminders in place that will force the parent or caregiver to take one last look at the backseat before walking away from the vehicle can avert tragedy as well.
Similarly, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services posted a “Look Before You Lock” campaign to help parents and caregivers leave a reminder on the back seat, such as a purse, employee ID or cellphone — items they have toopen the car door to retrieve once they arrive at their destination.
Hot cars and pets
Both Mitchell and Williams said vehicular heatstroke is not confined to children but also affects pets as well, particularly if they are left in a hot car.
Williams said a recent incident underscores how susceptible pets are when it comes to the heat and describes a recent incident that started with a 911 call involving a dog left in a car alone in a parking lot in Washington City. When officers arrived they found the animal in extreme distress.
The dog was treated at the scene and taken to a local animal shelter since the owners were not available. Only later were they able to track down the owners and as it turned out. That case is still under investigation.
Hundreds of pets die each year from being locked in a car and can sustain brain damage and die in a hot car in as little as 15 minutes.
And while many pet owners may not realize that bringing their pets along for errands may place their furry companions in grave danger, the reality is a car is essentially a metal box. So even if they park in a shady parking spot, leave a bowl of water and even an open window for their pet, these are insufficient measures to counteract the deadly effects of high temperatures, the ASPA says.
The rising temperature increases their heart and respiratory rates and can cause seizures as well as harm to vital organs resulting in permanent injury or death. Overheating is particularly rough on dogs because they can only cool themselves by panting.
“Particularly when the weather starts getting warmer, it’s just far safer to leave your pets at home rather than in the car,” Williams said.
Keeping children safe
The National Safety Council says the best way to reduce the risk of leaving a child in a car is to stick to a routine and avoid distractions, and provided a reminder to the community that “everyone — not only parents — needs to be mindful of keeping car doors locked to prevent children from getting inside on their own.”
The safety council urged all parents and caregivers to take an extra look before stepping out of their vehicles to ensure the safety of their children and pets. The difference can be life or death.
For more information on preventing child heatstroke deaths, visit the Safe Kids website.
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