|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||||||
|
Local News - July 2002 |
||||||||
|
‘Close calls’ with hot cars reported By ANDIE BRYMER, LTN Staff Writer July 15, 2002 - Kids, cars and sizzling hot weather are a dangerous mix. In Lincoln County there have been no fatalities involving kids left in hot cars, but several close calls, according to officials with the Department of Social Services. “We’ve had a good many,” said Tony Carpenter, child protective services supervisor. Temperatures inside a car can reach 140 degrees or higher quickly, depending on the outside temperature and humidity, according to Josh Wagner, Lincoln County EMS spokesman. “A lot of parents don’t realize how quickly,” he said. Within 10 to 15 minutes, a child’s body temperature can reach 107 degrees inside a hot car. “All your body systems dysfunction at that temperature,” he said. “It doesn’t take any time at all to become fatal.” While most parents who leave their children in hot cars do not intend to do harm, they can face criminal negligence charges, Carpenter said. When police are called to investigate a child unattended in a car, social workers also intervene. Depending on the circumstances, parents could lose custody of their child. Social workers advise anyone who sees a child left alone in a car to immediately notify the police and alert store management to assist in finding the parent. “That’s precious time,” Carpenter said. He discourages citizens who intervene from confronting the parent. “It’s best if you have an officer handle that,” Carpenter said. DSS and EMS officials caution that even in the most pleasant weather, leaving a child under age 10 alone in a car does not meet acceptable community standards. “It takes just a couple minutes for someone to grab a kid,” Carpenter said. Children who are old enough to get out of a car seat on their own may also put the car into gear which could cause an accident, Wagner said. Elderly individuals also face the risk of death or heat stroke if left in a hot car. When the outside temperature gets above 90 degrees, the elderly have difficulty regulating their own body temperature, Wagner said. Officials urge everyone to remember how quickly a parked car heats up any time they leave someone, or even a pet, inside the vehicle.
|
||||||||
|
© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
||||||||
|
|