Longview Police Recognize Heat Awareness Day

LONGVIEW — Longview Police want to remind citizens that with the temperatures heating up, the inside temperature of vehicles will be heating up even faster too. The Safe Kids Texas Heatstroke Task Force, the National Weather Service, and Longview Police recognized Heat Awareness Day on Friday, May 24, 2013. With the hot days beginning already “cracking” the window of the car has little effect on the temperature inside the car. In approximately ten minutes the interior temperature can rise about 19 degrees. In one to two hours it can rise 45-50 degrees. It is against Texas law to leave a child under the age of seven unattended in a vehicle for longer than five minutes.

Since 1988, 559 children lost their lives from being left inside a car in the heat across the U.S. Of that number, 84 of those children were in Texas. Last year 32 children died of heatstroke in cars, including 5 from Texas. No child heat deaths in cars have been documented so far this year in the U.S. Listed below is more information provided by the Task Force about the heat inside a vehicle. An examination of media reports about the 559 child vehicular heatstroke deaths 1998 through 2012 shows the following circumstances:
– 52% – child forgotten by caregiver
– 29% – child playing in unattended vehicle
– 18% – child intentionally left in vehicle by adult
– 1% – circumstances unknown

ACT: Preventing heatstroke deaths

Together we can cut down on the number of deaths and near misses by remembering to ACT:
– Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. And make sure to keep your car and trunk locked when you’re not in it so kids don’t get in on their own.
– Create reminders by putting something in the back of your car next to your child such as a briefcase, a purse or a cell phone that is needed at your final destination. This is especially important if you’re not following your normal routine, which often happens during summer months. –
– Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel want you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations.

Badge of Courage awards

Last year the Safe Kids Texas Heatstroke Task Force presented Badge of Courage Awards to a San Marcos woman and a Lubbock woman. Both called 9-1-1 to report an unattended child in a vehicle. In both cases, EMS arrived quickly and the children were rescued without injury.

Safe Kids Texas Heatstroke Task Force

The Safe Kids Texas Heatstroke Task Force is composed of 166 community safety professionals throughout Texas, including law enforcement officers, nurses, health educators, doctors, county extension agents, and child advocates. During Heat Awareness Day, task force members will be conducting a variety of activities to remind us of the dangers of leaving children in cars and to promote the practice of the three preventive measures of ACT. For more information, contact Johnny Humphreys, Task Force Chair, at 512-422-7085 or [email protected].

Online resources about heatstroke deaths of children in cars:

Statistics and data
– National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/
– San Francisco State University Geosciences Dept: http://ggweather.com/heat/

Prevention information, Badge of Courage nomination form
– Safe Kids Worldwide: http://www.safekids.org/nlyca