As the temperatures across the nation rise as the summer months approach, so do the deaths of children and pets left inside vehicles. The temperature inside an enclosed car can rise quickly. Short-wave energy from the sun enters vehicles through the relatively transparent nature of their windows. The internal objects in the automobile heat the air inside and give off long-wave energy, which is not able to escape from the vehicle. Children and animals are less able to handle this extreme heat than adults and are more susceptible to hyperthermia. Hyperthermia, a medical emergency when the body produces or absorbs more heat that is can dissipate, can lead to brain damage, kidney failure and death.
According to data compiled by San Francisco State University (SFSU), seven children have already died in 2010 as of May 28 after they had been left in hot cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. In 2009, 33 children died in vehicles from hyperthermia.
More than half of all child hyperthermia fatalities in the United States from 1998 to 2009 were children under two years old.
The study by SFSU also found that temperatures in a closed automobile rose approximately 19 degrees in just 10 minutes, 29 degrees after 20 minutes, 34 degrees in 30 minutes and 43 degrees in an hour. The temperature could increase 50 degrees after a second hour.
The Animal Protection Institute (API) conducted their own study that showed that deadly temperatures can quickly build inside a closed vehicle, even with moderately warm temperatures outside.
The study found that even at 9 a.m. with an outside temperature of 82 degrees, the closed automobile registered 109 degrees inside. When the outside temperature rose to 112 degrees at 1:30 p.m., the closed vehicle reached 124 degrees.
The API’s study also measured vehicles with cracked windows. With four windows cracked, a 88-degree day outside turned into a 103-degree sauna inside the vehicle at 10 a.m. When the temperature rose to 110 degrees at 2 p.m. that day, the internal temperature rose to 123 degrees.
Although there was a drop in the internal temperature of an automobile with cracked windows, the data from these studies shows leaving a child or pet inside remains a perilous choice.
Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle. If you see a child in a hot vehicle, call 9-1-1. Accuweather (Thank you to Mamesh yesterday’s story for the link).