Death of 4 children in one month: Urgent heat stroke safety warning

Safety tips to prevent child heat stroke deaths in the car

The temperatures are heating up fast. And while it may sound like common sense to tell people to never leave children in the car, it still happens all the time. The recent, tragic deaths of four children across the country in the past month is a harsh reminder.

Bella Lindstrom, 4, Flint, Texas: Bella crawled into her father Russell’s unlocked Nissan Frontier when he thought she was sleeping. He found her unresponsive and overheated in the back of the truck with her sister, who survived, according to a recent story on cbs19.com, “Dad calls death of toddler found in parked vehicle “a tragic accident.””

Baby Harris, 22 months, Marrietta, Georgia: Justin Harris, went to work at around 9 a.m. with his 22-month-old son in the backseat of his car and forgot to drop him off at day care. He noticed his son unresponsive in his car seat as he was driving home from work around 4 p.m.. He pulled over and tried to perform CPR, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene. Justin Harris was arrested and charged with murder, according to a recent story in The Detroit Free Press, “Dad charged with murder after son dies in hot car.”

Baby Lillie, 9 months, Cocoa, Florida: A 9-month-old girl died after her father Steven forgot to drop her off at her sitter’s house, also according to The Detroit Free Press.

Logan Jacobs, 5, Princeton, Illinois: Police say the little boy had asked to play with his father’s tablet device and the father thought his son was playing with the device in his bedroom. Two hours later, the little boy was found in the vehicle with the doors locked, the windows closed and the device plugged into the car charger, according to a recent article KWQC.com, “Princeton Boy Dies After Being Found in Hot Vehicle.”

The weather only reached 84 degrees on the day that Logan passed – a temperature that many people wouldn’t think is dangerous. As the news reports show, people have no idea how even mid-80s temperatures can affect a child left inside a car with windows up.

Every year an average of 38 children die in hot cars from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside. And more than 600 U.S. children have died when left alone in cars since 1990, according to the nonprofit safety group Kidsandcars.org.

It’s a terrible topic that would make any parent shudder. But hopefully bringing awareness to this danger could save a child’s life.

Here’s a blog post I wrote with 13 tips to prevent child heat stroke.

Related information that can help:

Can you be arrested for leaving your kids alone in the car?