Heat can kill children in cars
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With the recent record-breaking temperatures across our region lately this early in June, it seems like a good time to remind parents and caregivers just how rapidly temperatures can rise inside a vehicle. A car’s windows act like a greenhouse, quickly trapping sunlight and heat. Cars parked in direct sunlight can reach internal temperatures up to 131 -172 degrees F (55 – 78 degrees C) when outside temperatures are 80 - 100 degrees F. Even cracking the windows or not parking in direct sunlight does not make a car significantly cooler. Heat stroke deaths have occurred even when the vehicle was parked in shade. A car can reach 110 degrees when the temperatures outside are only in the 60s. Heat stroke, or hyperthermia, can take place when the outside temperature is as low as 57 degrees.
The body temperatures of children can increase three to five times faster than adults. Very young children (age 4 and under), are the most susceptible to hyperthermia and more than 70 percent of heat stroke deaths occur in children younger than age 2. According to the Medical College of Wisconsin, “Children’s bodies have greater surface area to body mass ratio, so they absorb more heat on a hot day (and lose heat more rapidly on a cold day).” Further, children have a considerably lower sweating capacity than adults, and so they are less able to dissipate body heat by evaporative sweating and cooling. These factors result in the body temperatures of children increasing three to five times faster than adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that very high body temperatures can cause damage to the brain and other vital organs, as well as heat stroke and death. Heat stroke begins when the body passes 104 degrees. Essentially, the body becomes unable to control its own temperature and so it rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down. Reaching an internal temperature of 107 degrees is lethal.
Not all children who die in hot cars are left there by adults. Many children climb into unlocked vehicles without their parents or guardians’ knowledge and about one-third of heat stroke deaths occur because the child gets in the car without a caregiver knowing and could not get out. That is why it is always a good idea to lock your car while at home, especially if you have small children. Remember that a vehicle’s interior can reach deadly temperatures within 10 minutes. In 30 minutes, internal vehicle temperatures can rise 34 degrees and in 60 minutes, they can rise as much as 43 degrees. Children can suffer heatstroke within 10 minutes, causing high fever, seizures and damage to the brain and other vital organs. On average, 38 children have died in hot cars each year in the U.S. since 1998. While there are many factors that impact how fast the temperatures rise, like car seat colors, it is not worth the risk. For more information on keeping children safe in and around cars, visit KidsAndCars.org.
