The average high temperature for today is 86, but as many folks know, our temperatures tend to get much higher during the summer and Fall months. So for our experiment, we chose 96 degrees as our test temperature.
We took a thermometer and put it in one of our news vehicles and checked out how the temperature changed every 5 minutes.
After 30 minutes we decided to check the temperature inside the car. After 5 minutes it got up to 105 degrees. After 10 minutes, 115 degrees. And after 30 minutes it got up to 124 degrees.
But can five or ten minutes in this heat really cause health issues? We spoke with Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerrie Pinkney at Covenant Children’s Hospital who says it definitely can.
“Children overheat three to five times faster and they end up with severe brain damage and literally cannot cool themselves off. And very often they die very quickly, and it’s a very awful way to die.“
And if your child is lucky enough to survive after being left in a hot car, they may still suffer lifelong health and developmental issues.
“On average one child dies every nine days in this country of what we call vehicular heat stroke.”
This is a situation that is preventable and sadly something that many folks don’t think about until it’s too late.
Covenant Children’s Hospital has safety snaps that snap into your child’s car seat while vacant. When you put your child in the car seat you remove the safety snap and put it over your head and around your neck. This gives you a reminder when you get out of the car that you have a child in the vehicle. For more information on where to get these safety snaps go to https://www.covenantchildrens.org/baby-safety-snaps/?furl=safetysnap.
