It Can Happen to You

Sunday, April 7th Sarah Lacy went to Walmart in New Port Richey and left her two and a half month daugher in the car with the windows up and the car turned off. Lacy was in the Walmart for 30 minutes while fire rescue was at her car trying to remove the child. The outside temprature was 81 degrees. Lacy was arrested and is in jail pending $50,000 bail or $5000 bond the baby was placed in foster care.

Parents get busy, they get distracted and are often sleep deprived. It could happen to to you. But these deaths are preventable – not inevitable. Take a moment to learn how to keep your kids safe with there prevention tips.

Remember ACT

• Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by:
  • Never leaving your child alone in the car, even for a minute.
  • Consistently locking unattended vehicle doors and trunks.
• Create reminders and habits that give you and your child’s caregiver a safety net:
  • Establish a peace-of-mind plan. When you drop off your child, make a habit of calling or texting all other caregivers, so all of you know where your child is at all times.
  • Place a purse, briefcase, gym bag, cell phone or an item that is needed at your next stop in a back seat.
  • Set the alarm on your cell phone or computer calendar as a reminder to drop your child off at childcare.
• Take action if you see an unattended child in a vehicle:
  • Dial 911 immediately and follow the instructions that emergency personnel provide – they are trained to determine if a child is in danger.

You might be surprised to hear that a child can die from heat stroke on a 72-degree day. There’s a medical reason why this happens to children - their bodies aren’t the same as adults. A child’s body can heat up five times faster than an adult’s. Did you know that even on a mild day, the temperature inside a car can rise 20 degrees in just 10 minutes? Heat stroke happens when the body cannot cool itself fast enough and the core temperature rises to dangerous levels. Heat stroke is preventable. Be sure to keep your child hydrated and use these prevention tips to keep your child happy, healthy and safe.

Prevention tips provided by safekids.org