Question: What is the Safe Kids Never Leave Your Child Alone in a Car campaign all about?
Answer: This is a campaign created by Safe Kids Worldwide to keep children and families safe in and around cars, with an emphasis on the dangers of unattended children in cars.
The program creates awareness about how hot it can get inside a car and warns of the dangers of leaving a child inside a car on warm days. We all know that in Wisconsin we experience our fair share of hot days during the summer months, and even on an 80-degree day, the temperature inside a car can get brutally hot. Leaving a child alone in a car can result in heatstroke or even death. Heatstroke sets in when the body isn't able to cool itself quickly enough. A child's body heats up three to five times faster than an adult's, making children more susceptible to heatstroke.
Unfortunately in 2014 there have already been seven children who have died in the United States from heatstroke because they were left alone in unattended vehicles. The circumstances of these deaths vary from where the child has gained access to the vehicle while playing and could not get out, to the child intentionally being left alone in the vehicle while the caregiver went into a building or where the caregiver unintentionally left the child in the vehicle and simply forgot the child was there. No matter what the situation was, all these deaths can be prevented by following the Safe Kids Worldwide message of remembering to ACT.
A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving your child alone in a car, even for a minute. And make sure to keep your car locked when you're not in it so kids don't get in on their own.
C: Create reminders by putting something in the back of your car next to your child such as a purse or cell phone that is needed at your final destination. This is especially important if you're not following your normal routine.
T: Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 9-1-1. Emergency personnel want you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations. One call could save a life.