Human Services Officials Say: Don't Leave Children Alone In Cars -- Ever!!

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- Protecting and intervening on the part of Oklahoma’s children who are at risk of being abused or neglected is a major part of the mission for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
In recent days, local and national news has brought to our attention the deaths of several children who have died as a result of being left in automobiles.

It is hot, very hot, and Oklahoma law enforcement and the OKDHS child protective services staff are responding to a number of incidents where children are being left unattended in hot automobiles.

Many Oklahoma broadcasters, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters and OKDHS, are regularly airing public service messages advising parents and caretakers not to leave children unattended in vehicles for any reason at any time, especially during the heat of an Oklahoma summer.

Education and awareness are the keys according to George Earl Johnson Jr., OKDHS communications director.

“We hope to raise public awareness about not leaving infants and toddlers alone in vehicles to reduce the number of children who may be injured,” Johnson said. “Most parents think they are only going to be gone for a few minutes when they leave their child unattended in a car.

“In the multi-tasking world we are living in, it is too easy to point a finger and say, ‘How can someone do that?’ However, it is incumbent upon all of us to be mindful of how we can check and recheck our own actions, especially when we transport children in our automobiles.”

Under the 90° F plus heat of the Oklahoma summer sun the temperature inside an automobile can rise more than 50°F in less than one hour. In 15-20 minutes the same car’s temperature will reach 120°. Because of its small body mass, a child’s body heats up three to five times faster then an adult’s, which puts a child at much greater risk of serious injury or death quickly. Medical professionals have stated that a core body temperature of 107°F is lethal. That temperature is reached in a child’s body much faster than in an adult.

At the time of this release being written the outside air temperature in the Capitol parking lot was 87° F. With the windows cracked, the temperature on the thermometer in the back seat of Johnson’s vehicle in that lot read 120° F.

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. There were no deaths of children as a result of being left in hot cars from June 2000 through July 2003. There have been seven deaths in Oklahoma as a result of children being left in or entrapped in automobiles since August 2003.

However, children have died in house fires, drowned in pools and ponds and accessing 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 public education efforts, several children’s lives will be saved the rest of this summer when a citizen sees a child unattended in vehicle and takes the appropriate actions. In the best interest of the whole family, parents or caregivers should not leave infants and toddlers alone in a vehicle -- Ever! That’s the best preventative effort any of us can take for our children.”

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NOTE TO NEWS AND ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: Jan Null, adjunct professor of geosciences at San Francisco State University, has collected a significant amount of information about hyperthermia deaths of children in vehicles in the United States. The website can be found at: http://noheatstroke.org/.