POLICY: All children will be accounted for after de-boarding a vehicle, every time, so no child is EVER left inside the vehicle. Children will be supervised at all times to prevent elopement and possibly accessing a vehicle and becoming trapped inside.
PURPOSE: To assure the children are safe.
To prevent child deaths inside hot vehicles.
- In just 10 minutes, the inside temperature of a vehicle can rise by 20 degrees F and become deadly.
- A child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s. When a child is left in a vehicle, that child's temperature can rise quickly — and the situation can quickly become dangerous. Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees F. A child can die when their body temperature reaches 107 degrees F.
- In 2022, 33 children died of heatstroke in vehicles. In 2018 and 2019, there was a record number of hot car deaths - 53 children died each year — the most in at least 25 years, according to NoHeatstroke.org. Over the past 25 years, more than 950 children have died of heatstroke, because they were left or became trapped in a hot car.
PROCEDURE:
- Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. Rolling windows down or parking in the shade does little to change the interior temperature of the vehicle.
- The driver must make it a habit to check the entire vehicle — all the back seats and possible hiding areas — before locking the doors and walking away.
- Use a roster to account for all children when de-boarding a vehicle to account for all children, every time.
- Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat, out of reach of children, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger's seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
- Store car keys out of a child's reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.
- Always lock your car doors, year-round, so children can’t get into unattended vehicles. Many children have snuck outside, got inside an unlocked vehicle to play, and were unable to get out of the vehicle.
- If you ever see a child alone in a locked vehicle, act immediately and call 911. A child in distress due to heat should be removed from the vehicle as quickly as possible and rapidly cooled.
- Symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke include:
- Call 9-1-1 for symptoms of heatstroke or is the child is unconscious.
Reference: Child Heatstroke Prevention: Prevent Hot Car Deaths | NHTSA