Heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle-related deaths in children across the US. And according to Elizabeth Foster with Safe Kids Mississippi, the state has the largest number of children dying per capita.
"We do have many cases, especially now with COVID-19, parents say okay well I'm just running in the store," said Foster. "Something to know is that a car can heat up an additional 20 degrees in ten minutes."
And cracking a window, she says, doesn't help. When a child’s internal temperature nears 104 degrees, major organs begin to shut down. And if it reaches 107 degrees, the child can die. Jim Pollard with the American Medical Response Central Mississippi.
"Children are known to absorb heat because their body surface area is greater than their mass," said Pollard. "Compared to adults, small children are known to absorb heat about five times faster."
Foster says more than half of these deaths happen because parents or caregivers forget the child is inside the car and it's a situation she says can happen in any family. If you are driving with a child, her advice is to create reminders.
"One thing I would do when I first had my son was put something in the backseat that you need," said Foster.
"I start putting my purse in the backseat because what woman is going to get out without her purse. Or kill two birds with one stone, put your cell phone in the backseat."
Foster says if you see a child locked inside a car, call 911.
