HCPD Offers Several Tips To Help Protect Children From Hyperthermia Fatalities This Summer

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — With temperatures climbing higher and higher as we head further into the summer months, the Howard County Police Department reminds parents and caregivers to take extra steps and not leave children in vehicles.

Because children overheat easily, especially those age four and younger, and cars parked in direct sunlight can reach internal temperatures up to 131 to 172 degrees Fahrenheit when outside temperatures are 80 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, that combination can quickly become deadly.

"While it may seem hard to believe that a caregiver could forget a child is in the car, a majority of child hyperthermia fatalities in vehicles occur due to a change in the driver’s routine, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," the Howard County Police Department shared.

The HCPD offers the following tips to parents and caregivers:

• Place something that you’ll need at your next stop – such as a purse or briefcase – near the child safety seat. This simple act could help prevent you from accidentally forgetting a child.
• If you are dropping your child off at childcare, and normally it’s another parent or caregiver your spouse or partner who drops them off, have the caregiver, your spouse or partner call you to make sure the drop went according to plan. Ask your childcare provider to call you if your child does not show up for childcare.
• Teach children not to play in, on or around vehicles.
• Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle, even with the window slightly open. A vehicle can heat to dangerous, life-threatening levels in only 10 minutes.
• Always lock a vehicle’s doors and trunk. Keep keys and remote entry devices out of children’s reach.