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Summertime Temperatures Potentially Fatal to Kids Left in Cars


July 17, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando - With Florida summer temperatures climbing into the nineties, authorities are warning parents not to endanger their children's lives by leaving them in locked vehicles.

[Child heatstroke 2014 fatalities infographic courtesy of the San Fransisco State University Department of Earth & Climate Sciences.]

According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, seven Florida children have died from being left in hot vehicles since last year. A study from San Francisco State University put the number of child heatstroke deaths nationwide at over fifty.

David Ocasio from DCF says hot cars are far more dangerous for children than adults.

“Approximately ten minutes the temperature of a parked vehicle can rise twenty degrees, and unfortunately a child doesn’t have the ability to regulate his body temperature, and thus raising it three to five times faster than adults,” Ocasio said.

Ocasio says when a child’s temperature reaches a hundred and seven degrees, they could die.

Sergeant Lovetta Quinn-Henry from the Orlando Police Department recommends parents just bring their children along with them.

“We would ask that parents would simply take the time, take their children inside or not take them to those places where don’t they feel their children are, you know, capable of going inside,” Quinn-Henry said.”

DCF is raising awareness through their new campaign, “Look Before You Lock.”

The campaign recommends leaving your purse or briefcase in the back seat to remind you to check for your kids.

 

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