With summer temperatures on the rise, Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell today issued an advisory about the dangers of leaving children in parked vehicles.
“Dozens of children die of heat stroke in parked cars nationwide every year,” Lowell said, “and many more still survive but suffer permanent injury.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, heat stroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths among children under the age of 14.
Studies show that a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s and even with the windows down, on a hot day the temperature inside a parked car can top 120 degrees in just minutes. Generally speaking, heat stroke occurs when body temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit and 107 degrees is considered lethal.
The Sheriff’s Office recommends that a child never, ever be left behind in a parked car, even for a minute, and even with the windows cracked open and the air conditioning running.
“And don’t be afraid to get involved,” Lowell said. “If you see a child alone in a parked vehicle in this heat, call it in immediately. Law enforcement prefers responding to false alarms and close calls to tragedies every time.”
The Cowboy State has already seen record-breaking high temperatures this year, with Buffalo, Casper, Worland and Greybull all getting above 100 degrees on Tuesday. Riverton was near that at 98 degrees.
In Rock Springs, the record-high was tied at 91 degrees.