Babies and young children can sleep so peacefully that it may be tempting to leave them alone in a car while you run a quick errand. You should never do this, however, because it can lead to heatstroke, serious injury, and death. Heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths for children.
According to KidsAndCars.org, US child vehicular heatstroke fatalities has claimed the lives of 836 children from 1990-2017, and the number is 37 each year or one every 9 days.
Susan Katz, clinical instructor at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and the Pediatric Injury Prevention Program coordinator at the university’s Children’s Hospital, says there are simple steps to take to prevent these tragedies from happening.
