Prevent “hot car deaths” of the children

As another South Carolina summer begins, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) reminds parents and caregivers of lifesaving steps they can build into their daily routines to help prevent pediatric vehicular heatstroke, commonly referred to as “hot car deaths.”

Heatstroke can occur throughout the year as temperatures inside a vehicle can reach life threatening levels even on mild or cloudy days. Children are particularly vulnerable to hot car deaths as their bodies’ ability to maintain internal body temperatures is not as efficient as adults, and their body temperature increases at a rate of 3 or 5 times faster than adults.

“A common misconception is parents don’t realize how quickly the temperature will rise in a parked vehicle,” said Kevin Poore, program coordinator with DHEC’s Division of Injury and Substance Abuse Prevention and Director of Safe Kids South Carolina. “A car can heat up nearly 20 degrees in 10 minutes, and cracking a window doesn’t help.”

South Carolina has had 22 hot car deaths since 1998. In 2022, there were 33 deaths across the nation affecting children from Idaho to New Jersey and throughout the south from California to Florida. These deaths are 100% preventable, and according to the National Safety Council, each death was linked to one of three primary circumstances: parents or caregivers forget a child in a vehicle, a child gains access to the unlocked vehicle or someone knowingly had a child harnessed or locked in the vehicle.