Prevent another child from dying of heatstroke a hot car! The National Heatstroke Prevention Day is organizing education for the community about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars, on July 31.

Responding to a call for a child dying of heatstroke in a hot car is one of those events that EMS and other public safety professionals never forget and those who haven’t experienced it hope they never do. Since 1998, more than 800 children have died in hot cars in the U.S., including 52 in 2018. On average, one child dies from heatstroke inside a vehicle nearly every 10 days in the U.S.

Dying of heatstroke, where’s the baby

Most cases occur when a child is mistakenly left inside or gets into a vehicle unattended – and then becomes trapped. It doesn’t take an especially hot day for a child dying of heatstroke. When the outside temperature is as low as 60°F degrees, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach all the way up to 110°F degrees. If a child’s body temperature reaches 107°F degrees, that child will probably die.

The Office of EMS encourages the community to join NHTSA’s efforts to educate parents, caregivers and the public by sharing campaign materials available on NHTSA’s page and remembering to #checkforbaby on and off the clock on social channels.

To promote further social awareness and amplify the conversation about this vitally important safety issue, NHTSA will host a “Tweet-Up” on National Heatstroke Prevention Day. Every 15 minutes, beginning at 7 a.m. ET on July 31, NHTSA officials will post stats, prevention tips awareness messages using the hashtags #heatstrokekills and #checkforbaby on all the agency’s social media channels. Share these messages with your colleagues and community members to make sure they know the dangers of heatstroke.

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