skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Tennessee's Heat + Kids Alone in Cars = Deadly Combination

play audio
Play

Friday, July 9, 2010   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee has had a string of hot, humid days this week, and as the heat rises, so do instances of children dying by hyperthermia, or "heat stroke," because they are left in a vehicle unattended. According to Lorrie Walker, a training manager and technical advisor for Safe Kids USA, that is the leading cause of non-traffic deaths for kids, and since the beginning of this year, 20 children have died because they were left to over-heat in a car.

Walker says it doesn't have to be a scorcher of a day to be dangerous, because the temperature in a car can go up much higher than it is outside - and it only continues to rise with time. For children, she says the effects are far worse than for adults.

"A child's body temperature heats up three to five times faster than that of an adult. So, an adult might be able to sit in there and just be hot, but not be dangerously overheated, where a young child is in danger."

It is not safe to leave a child in a vehicle, even if a window is cracked, says Walker. However, children are left in vehicles for a variety of reasons; sometimes adults think it will only be for a minute or two and become distracted; sometimes kids wander into unlocked cars themselves. Some adults think it's safe to do, she adds.

"The car is not a babysitter, and it's not a recreation area. There's no good that can come from leaving a child alone in a car, for any amount of time, ever."

Leaving a child in a car is not always intentional, Walker admits: about half of the cases involve parents or caregivers who are super-busy, and simply become very distracted.

"They're thinking about what they need to do next and they don't even give the back seat a second thought. They pull up where they're going, shut off the car, lock the door, and head off to the office or school or wherever it is they're headed."

Safe Kids USA recommends ways to remind yourself to think of the children in the back seat: leave your wallet, purse or cell - whatever needs to go with you that day - next to the child seat, or set an alarm on your cell phone or PDA to remind you to drop off the kids at day care or school.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021