Hot cars, unattended children a deadly combination Published June 24, 2010 By Joyce Atlee Family Advocacy Outreach Manager TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Did you ever wake up in the morning and say to yourself, "I think today I will leave my child all alone in the car until he or she dies"? Of course not! But then, neither did the parents of 8-month old Isabella, 4-year-old Gregory, 9-month old Jessica or 6-week old Dalton, a few of the almost 450 hyperthermia deaths caused by children left alone in vehicles since 1998. According to the San Francisco State University Department of Geosciences, 51 percent of these young children had been "forgotten" by a parent or caregiver. Circumstances vary, but over and over again, the headlines speak of preventable tragedy -- a parent drives to work, then eventually realizes she forgot to drop the baby off at day care. Or a couple returns home from running errands, and each parent thinks the other one brought the baby into the house. Hours later, a frantic search leads to the family car and there, strapped into his or her little car seat, is a dead baby. The mistakes made may be slightly different case by case, but the end result is the same; a tiny child waiting helplessly to be rescued -- a child waiting in a vehicle, trapped and terrified, sweating and dehydrated, his core body temperature soaring to lethal heights; finally mercifully losing consciousness, before death provides release. Never leave a child in a car unattended, not even for a minute. In the summer, especially in Oklahoma, a car becomes like an oven very quickly. When the temperature outside is 70 degrees, it only takes 10 minutes for the interior of a vehicle to heat up to 89 degrees. If the thermometer reads 85 degrees, within 20-minutes the car's inside temperature can soar to 114 degrees. But there have been reports of children dying in cars when the outside temperature was as low as 70 degrees. There is no safe time to leave a child alone in a vehicle. One father whose own mistake allowed his beloved son, Mikey, to die in the backseat, offered safety tips to help other parents. "I accept 100 percent of the blame for this tragic accident, but I also know there are simple techniques that might help other families avoid such tragedy," the father said. "Please develop with your family a basic safety technique to remind yourselves that a baby is in the car seat. Put a diaper bag in the front seat every time your baby is in the car. Put your purse, briefcase, wallet, cell phone or hat in the back seat where you will have to retrieve it before leaving the car. Call your spouse every morning the minute you arrive at the day care center (with follow up from your spouse if you haven't called by a certain time.) Discuss the issue right now with your spouse and develop a basic safety plan that you will use every time." Heat is not the only potential killer. A few years ago a young military child died after being left alone in a car for just a few minutes. Her mother and a friend parked briefly, leaving a two-year-old and two four-year-olds in the car alone. When the women heard someone screaming, they ran outside and found the four-year-old girl being strangled by the power window. Attempts to revive the child were unsuccessful and she died at the local hospital. While some 2010 model vehicles may have the new Auto Reverse Systems available (which cause power windows to roll down if they encounter an obstacle), 40 percent do not, and older cars are not equipped with this life-saving technology. At Tinker, the Child Supervision Guidelines state that no child under age 10 is to ever be left in a vehicle unattended. If you see a young child alone in a car, immediately call Security Forces at 734-3737 or call 911. Incidents should also be referred to the Family Advocacy Program 734-4390, as child neglect.