As I was thinking about reminding my readers about the dangers of leaving a child or pet in a hot car, I read about an 8-month old died in a hot car. People in Chesapeake do not read my articles, so I can only impact the ones who do. My heart breaks over a death of this nature. It was completely and unequivocally preventable. There is no excuse for leaving a child or pet in a non-running vehicle ever. Temperatures have been soaring, making the temperature in a non-running vehicle high enough to kill a person or a pet. There is nothing that you could say to me about leaving a child or pet in a car alone, especially in extreme conditions, that would make me say, “oh, then it is ok.” I am speaking for who that cannot speak for themselves. I am speaking for your child or your pet!
For those of you that may find a child or pet in a hot vehicle, this is a true emergency. You must call 9-1-1 immediately. Let’s say that you are in a busy parking lot, you name the store. You will need to give the Emergency Communications Operator very good information so that responders can find you quickly. Once you have them on the way, you need to make a decision, if you have not already done so, and that is whether to take immediate action, or wait for the calvary. If you choose to wait, wait with the intent of signaling police, fire and ems. If you think that waiting will further harm the child or animal, then you must break a window and rescue the child or animal. If you say to yourself, “should I or should I not,” then you must act. I would rather be told that I overreacted and the child or pet was fine, than not react and a death occur. To break a window, strike a side window or push a screwdriver into the corner of a side glass. The window should shatter. Again, your task is to get the child or pet out as quickly as possible.
For every parent and pet owner, hear me clearly: You must not leave your child or pet in a non-running vehicle for any amount of time. You may think that you will only be inside for a moment. Whether you are or are not, do not leave your child or pet in that car. I went into a store today and that should have only taken me five minutes. My wife stayed in the car, with the car running and the AC on. Thirty-plus minutes later, I came out of that store. You must understand how dangerous it is, especially on these very hot days. However, you must understand that, even when it is not extremely hot, it could still be dangerously hot in your non-running vehicle. Don’t try to skirt this issue by leaving your child or pet in a running vehicle. The dangers may be different, but there are still dangers. Bottom line, do not leave children or pets in a vehicle alone.
These are horrific calls for first responders and for the hospital personnel that receive these patients, especially when death is the outcome. A death of this nature is so senseless and so avoidable. A perfectly healthy child or pet is now unconscious and struggling to survive. There are heartbreaking and tragic stories of parents forgetting about sleeping children in cars. Something distracts a person, with the prime offender being one’s cell phone, and he or she goes inside their places of business or whatever, only to be reminded at some point that he or her child is in the car. The terrible stories play out with the death of the child. This is one of those incidents that is low frequencyb but high impact, or as another way to say it, great loss. As a parent or pet owner, you must never let your guard down. If I sound harsh or brash, I need you to understand how dangerous this problem can be. A lack of parental supervision is the No. 1 cause of children being hurt or killed. You must also ensure that your child care provider understands that this is unacceptable behavior as well. Do not take anything for granted; have the conversation.
An 8-month old child is dead who should not be dead. That child is in the hands of Jesus now, and whoever left that child in that hot car needs to be held accountable. Hear me clearly, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving children or pets in a non-running vehicle, Take them with you! The end result of this is not only a dead child or pet, but a destroyed family and, very possibly, a destroyed marriage. For some, it could mean time in prison, but even if you are not physically imprisoned, you will be mentally imprisoned for the rest of your life. Do not let this happen to you, your children, your friends, your co-workers or anybody. Take care of your children and your pets. They are depending on you!
