It is surprising but every year with the arrival of high temperatures, accidents occur with children who have been forgotten (or left for a limited period of time) inside closed vehicles without ventilation. The Spanish Society of Outpatient Pediatrics and Primary Care points out that prevention is the only weapon we have to deal with these dramatic situations.
As you know, inside a closed car, the temperature rises rapidly, and this occurs even on relatively cool days, if they are clear and sunny. The vehicle becomes a kind of oven, so you can get an idea, at 36 º C ambient, the temperature inside increases to 67 º C in just 15 minutes. If the glass of the windows has been lowered five centimeters, the temperature will be 50 º (that is still very high).
Taking into account that a child can reach 42 or 43 degrees of body temperature inside a car parked in the sun (and without ventilation) in summer, it is more than understandable that in the United States they carry out striking campaigns like this one that we saw the year past, and these two videos that I have inserted. Let's keep in mind that in children under five, body temperature regulation mechanisms are not as effective as in an adultThis occurs because they accumulate more heat and become more easily dehydrated.
They may suffer a heat stroke in less time than an adult; and reaching the temperature indicated above, there are chances that they died in 30 to 60 minutes.
If you find a child just locked inside a car
And even more, if the car is in the sun, and the little one shows signs of hyperthermia (rapid breathing, irritability, vomiting, decay, or decreased level of consciousness that may be accompanied by seizures); you should act immediately, because the forecast is conditioned on the speed of action:
Notify emergency services.
Always try to open the car while maintaining the safety of the child (if a glass is broken, that is from a remote window).
Cool the body, moving the child to a shade or cooler area, applying wet cloths or wipes on the head and rest of the body (changing them every so often for fresh ones). We can also use a fan that will increase the cooling effect.
The victim's head will be elevated, and (only if conscious) can you be offered liquids, preferably with salts (such as oral rehydration solutions) in small amounts frequently.
Most of the cases are children under two years old, tied in the backseat safety chair, but there are older children who would know how to get loose, but then they could not get out of the car because the vehicle doors are locked, and even if they were old enough to react, they could not turn on the air conditioner without the ignition key.
There is no typical profile of who forgets a child in this situation, it can happen to anyoner, although children should be a priority, but sometimes stress plays very bad passes. Sometimes it is not a forgetfulness but a 'I am going to buy something in five minutes, and I prefer to leave the children here to go faster', I have already commented on occasion that the five minutes can become 25, and There really is nothing more important than our children.
Sometimes it is nothing more than the curiosity of a child who takes the keys, gets in and cannot leave by their means, so it is better that they do not have access to the opening of the family vehicle.
In any case, as mentioned above, prevention is the best weapon we have. I have told you that prevention campaigns are carried out in the United States, and that is why children die every year for this reason, as I have read this year the number of victims already rises to 11.
