WESTON, Fla. — On this week’s Mom to Mom, Local 10’s Nicole Perez talked to an expert to find ways to prevent a tragedy as the South Florida heat rises and makes temperatures inside vehicles climb.
According to the National highway Traffic Safety Administration, 39 children died due to heat stroke in 2024 after being left in a hot car.
Dr. Aisha Subhani, Medical Director of the Emergency Department at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston explained the timeline of what happens to a child when they are left in a hot car.
“Children are interesting because their body surface area is a bit larger and the way their blood flow works, it’s a little bit slower, their cardiac output is also a little bit slower than adults. What that means is that they actually heat up faster, they don’t have as an efficient as metabolism yet because they’re still developing, and they don’t actually sweat as much as adults do,” said Subhani.
Subhani said even the vehicle interior can be dangerous when it comes to rising temperatures.
“For many of us who have leather interiors, you can see when you get into a car that’s been sitting out for a long time just by touching the steering wheel or sitting on the seat, it’s quite hot and you can actually get some burns from that,” said Subhani.
Nicole decided to test out the temperature in her car with the windows up and then with the windows down and it made no difference. It was hot!
“So even if you leave some of the windows down, I think people think that that’s going help with the ventilation, but the internal part of the car still can rise up to really extreme temperatures,” said Subhani.
A heat stroke in a child occurs when their core body temperature rise rapidly to 104 degrees or higher, accompanied by signs of central nervous system dysfunction.
“Once it does that, now you’re really in a life-threatening situation and that’s when things, your internal organs can start to shut down. There’s a lot of rapid breathing. They can have seizures from the high body temperatures. Usually that’s when the child can unfortunately become unconscious and then death can occur,” said Subhani.
Subhani says parents and caregivers should look out for some obvious signs of dehydration like nausea and vomiting. However, there are some signs that are not as obvious.
“Usually, children are active, and they’ll either complain, or they’ll cry and those things, but if they’re not doing those things, like they’re just really lethargic, that’s a sign,” said Subhani.
If you happen to be in a situation where a child is overheating, or you spot a child inside of a locked car, Subhani says you want to rapidly cool the chill to get their body core temperature down as quickly as possible.
“First thing is to extract them from the vehicle. Remove drenched clothing. Use cold compresses, ice, obviously removing them from the place where they’re overheated to a place where there’s more cooling. And then of course immediately calling 911 because they’re going to need medical attention right away.,” said Subhani.
When examining cases of hot car deaths in children, Subhani says it usually happens when there is a change in routine. So, to prevent forgetting a child in a hot car, put something in the front seat or download an app.
Some navigational apps like Waze have reminders for you to check for a child.
She also suggests locking car doors when you get out of a car to prevent a child from getting back into it.
“We are seeing some unprecedented temperatures now. It’s unreal, I think, across the United States. We have to be just cognizant of the fact that high temperatures, you know, have these adverse effects on health. Every minute counts,” said Subhani.
It’s important to note that rising temperatures in a hot vehicle are not just a factor in the afternoon. The morning sun can also spike temperatures in vehicles quickly.
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