PREVENT VEHICLE RELATED HEATSTROKE

PREVENT VEHICLE RELATED HEATSTROKE
As temperatures rise this summer, make sure you think about the safety of your child not only when traveling, but also when sitting in a parked car. Each year, children die from heatstroke when they have been left in hot vehicles. Take precautions to keep your children safe in and around vehicles.

Vehicles heat up very quickly - even with a window rolled down two inches, if the outside temperature is in the low 80’s, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach deadly levels in only 10 minutes. Children’s bodies overheat easily and infants & children under 4 years of age are among those at greatest risk for heat-related illness.

Children’s bodies absorb more heat on a hot day than an adult. Also, children are less able to lower their body heat by sweating. When a body cannot sweat enough, the body temperature rises rapidly. In fact, when left in a hot vehicle, a young child’s body temperature may increase 3 to 5 times as fast as an adult. High body temps can cause permanent injury or even death.