Being In A Hot Car Can Damage Kids' Brains, Doctor Says

Children’s brains are susceptible to being damaged if they are left in a hot car even for a few minutes.

Children 4 years old and younger are much more susceptible to hyperthermia, the retention and rise of one’s body temperature, because children have a larger surface area of skin in relation to their body mass.

“This means they can absorb more heat on a hot day and lose heat more rapidly on a cold day,” said Dr. Jeffrey Beinstock, chairman of pediatrics at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Body temperatures above 100 degrees in children can lead to heat stroke, which can lead to brain damage, and other organ damage,” Beinstock said.

A mother was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after a Bergen County Sheriff’s Officer pulled her 2-year-old son out of a hot car in Hackensack last week, authorities said.

Beinstock said the body of a child who was pulled out of a hot car was 108 degrees an hour after the child died.

“Most people don’t even realize what’s happening,” Beinstock siad. “Even if the outside temperature is 60 degrees, the inside of a child could be more than 110 degrees.”

On one of the recent hot days that have plagued the area, the temperature inside a hot vehicle could potentially be between 130 and 170 degrees, Beinstock said.

Between 10 and 15 children have reportedly been killed in hot car incidents nationwide this year, Beinstock said. Last year, 31 children were reportedly killed.

Beinstock offered the following tips for people who regularly travel with a child:

• Never leave a child alone in a vehicle, even for a minute.
• Get in the habit of opening the back door and check the back seat whenever getting out of a vehicle, just as a precaution.
• Make sure that if a child isn’t at school or a daycare, that place will call parents to inform them.