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OKLAHOMA CAPITOL --- Keeping children safe is a mission for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) as it launches a new public education campaign May 15.
Using the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Public Education Program, OKDHS is having two new, 30-second public services announcements distributed to all Oklahoma broadcasters.
The goal is to have participating broadcasters run Don’t Leave Children Alone and Don’t Leave Children Alone in the Car during the summer months to reduce the changes of children being seriously injured or dying in hot cars or drowning in pools or ponds.
Education and awareness is the key according to George Earl Johnson Jr., OKDHS communications director.
“We hope to continue to raise levels of awareness about not leaving young children alone to reduce the numbers of those who may be injured because they are left unsupervised,” Johnson said. “Most parents think they are only going to be gone for a few minutes when they leave their child in a car or unattended."
It only takes three minutes under the Oklahoma summer sun to raise the temperature inside an automobile to more than 140 degrees. A small child’s body cannot take that kind of heat for very long without risking serious injury or death.
In June 2000, the OKDHS started its first “Don’t Leave Kids in Hot Cars” campaign. During the years 1997 to 2000, seven children died in Oklahoma as a result of being left in hot cars.
With cooperation from the state’s media, law enforcement and concerned citizens, the campaign has helped educate Oklahomans on the issues. No child has died in a hot car in Oklahoma since June 2000. That’s something every parent who’s loved a child can be proud of.
However, children have died in house fires, drowned in pools and ponds and from access to dangerous chemicals and medications. “We believe many, if not all of these kinds of injuries and deaths are preventable,” Johnson said.
“It’s important for all of us to be attentive to the children around us, whether they are our children or not. We believe that through this public education effort, several children’s lives will be saved this summer when a citizen sees a child locked in a hot car and takes the appropriate actions. In the best interest of the whole family parents or caregivers shouldn’t leave infants and toddlers alone. That’s the best preventative effort.”
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