Scott Webb (Host): Welcome to UK HealthCast, the podcast from UK HealthCare. I'm Scott Webb. And today, we're going to discuss the dangers of leaving young children in the car anytime, really, but especially when it's hot out. And joining me today is registered nurse Sherri Hannan. She's the coordinator for Safe Kids Fayette County.

Host: Sherri, thanks so much for your time today. I have a couple of kids myself and worried when they were little and we'd be in the car and I'd always try to remember like, "Okay, I have all my kids. I didn't leave any kids in the car," because I know it's important, especially in the summer months, to not do that because it gets real hot in cars. So, let's just talk about heat stroke, car deaths. In general, how common are car-related heat stroke deaths in children?

Sherri Hannan: Well, it is a common problem. Unfortunately, it's not just related to summer months. Actually, it's happened in every month of the year. Some places, of course, we have warmer temperatures year round, not so much here in Kentucky. That's our major focus, is that early spring through late fall, that we like to raise awareness and educate. But it is a 100% preventable death for kids, and that's why we want to talk about it. We want to make people aware of things that they can do, simple steps, simple habits that can prevent this death to young children.

Host: Yeah, I see what you mean. And yeah, that's such a good point, right? It's, you know, entirely preventable. So, let's talk about that then. What are the main causes of hot car deaths in children?

Sherri Hannan: Well, most of them occur because of just out of routine. The child is forgotten, which seems like a very strong word to say because, you know, these things can happen to loving parents, educated parents, parents who just unknowingly left their child behind. Typically, it's out of routine. So, you get in your car, muscle memory, you just go straight to the office, sometimes you're already on the phone talking about work. And you just simply forget about the task of dropping a child off at daycare or to the babysitter. And so, it really is just unknowingly forget that you have to drop a child off and it's typically when it's out of your routine, it's not something that you do every day. So, those are typically the ones that are unknowingly forgot.

And then, of course, there are some that are intentionally left inside of a vehicle, a choice was made. And then, there are ones that the child has gained access to the vehicle. So, somehow they, you know, got out of the home, they got in the car, they've got themselves in, and maybe the child locks are on something like that and they can't get themselves out, they're trapped in the car. And sometimes, because this can be a quick death, depending on how hot it is outside and that internal temperature of the vehicle, the child can succumb to the hyperthermia effects if they're not found quick enough to exit the car.

Host: Yeah. I see what you mean. You know, that even the best and brightest and most well-meaning and most awesomest parents, you know, as you say, when they're a little bit out of their routine and they're distracted and there's a lot going on, you see how unfortunately this can happen and, as you say, it can happen so quickly. Is it because children are just more vulnerable to heat stroke than adults?

Sherri Hannan: Yes, they absolutely are. Their bodies can heat up three to five times faster than an adult. Their systems just haven't matured. So kids, because their body heats up so much faster, that internal temperature of their bodies, once it starts reaching upwards of like 104 degrees, they start to already have some internal organ damage. When it reaches closer to like 107 degrees, their body temperature, that pretty much, you know, will result in a death. So when you think about a car on a hot summer day and even not a hot summer day, and it gets to be 120 plus degrees inside that car, it literally is an oven. And the body temperatures rise and then the body just succumbs to those high temperatures because they cannot withstand it.

Host: Yeah. And I think we've all had that experience. Whether as kids, but certainly as adults, you know, it's sometimes surprising how fast our cars can heat up, especially if it's a darker car and a dark interior and a hot day or, maybe as you say, not even the hottest of days. But that sun, you get in and it literally feels like an oven, especially if you have leather seats. And so, you can see, you know, if we experience this as adults, and knowing that children are more susceptible to heat stroke, how fast does that happen? How fast do our cars turn into these sort of tragic ovens, if you will?

Sherri Hannan: Well, it really only takes 10 minutes for the inside of a vehicle to heat up about 20 degrees. So, you think that, you know, the outside temperature, 85 degrees that day, 20 plus, and it'll just keep going up, but it rises pretty quickly and it can rise at least 20 degrees in 10 minutes. So, thinking that you can run in the store and grab something or pay a bill, in that short amount of time, the inside of that vehicle can be extremely hot. Leaving a window cracked is not going to make any difference in the inside temperature of that vehicle. So, the inside heats very quickly. It can be more quickly if it's in direct sunlight. But even in shade, even on a seemingly mild day, the inside of that vehicle is going to be, you know, 20 plus degrees hotter than the outside temperature is.

Host: Is there ever a time, you know, when we can "do this safely," right? As you say, like, can we crack the windows? Can we leave the AC on? Can we park in the shade? Or are any of those good tips? Or is it just better really most of the time, if not all the time, just not to leave our kids in the car?

Sherri Hannan: I say this is one of those situations that it is a never-ever-to-leave-a-child-alone-in-a-car. Any child, you know, under a certain age should never be left alone anywhere, should always be under some sort of adult supervision. So, I don't think there would ever be a reason why you would, you know, leave your child asleep in the car, awake in the car to run due even a short errand. And even if you left it running, there's just too many dangerous things that can happen. And we try to, you know, let it be known to the public. If you see a child that's in a vehicle and there's not an adult there, even if the car is running, you need to call 911. We need to get, you know, someone there that can try to find the parent or the caregiver. If that child is starting to show signs of, you know, succumbing to heat stroke, they're not crying, they're not moving, I mean, we have Good Samaritan laws that make it possible for people to break windows of vehicles to try to rescue that child. They are protected by those laws. You don't want to just be walking through a parking lot and see a child. We don't know how long they've been there. We don't know what the situation is. You know, when would that parent come back? Would it be in 10 minutes? Would it be in two hours? So, we want to be able to react if we see something, that is one of those situations that you just wouldn't walk on by and just say, "Well, I hope that parent comes back because this is a child and maybe that child's life could be in danger." So, we have laws to protect Good Samaritans. And then, there are also laws that the parent can be charged in certain situations; manslaughter if that child were to die, but even, you know, wanton endangerment if the child is able to be rescued and ends up being okay, just because, you know, it is dangerous for that choice to be made to leave a child in the vehicle.

Host: Yeah, I really love having your expertise today. As you say, there's never a good time and place, especially if it's warm outside. But really, let's just go with never, right? Just don't leave your kids alone in the car. And we hopefully, you know, thinking as responsible people, Good Samaritans should never just assume, "Oh, well, the parent will be back soon." We should do something about it. And we could probably do an entirely separate podcast, Sherri, on people who leave their pets in the car. We'll table that. We'll do that some other time. Let's finish up today and just talk about tips for preventing hot car-related deaths.

Sherri Hannan: Yes. Well, there's a lot of things that we can do. I mean, cars are being manufactured that have some reminders, like if you open the back seat to put a child in a car seat, that when you exit the car, you'll have a backseat reminder to tell you, "Look in the backseat," you opened it. It doesn't know if it was a child or if you just put your briefcase, but you'll have some reminders. Some car seats are having some technology installed, so that, you know, if a child is sitting in the car seat and the car is not moving over X amount of time, there can be an alarm that goes off if you program it, you know, through Wi-Fi.

Put things in place. Talk your babysitter, your childcare provider. If that child does not show up, and there hasn't been, you know, something planned like vacations or, you know, that the child's been sick, if that child does not show up for daycare, have the daycare make that 20-second call to a parent to say, "Hey, where's Scott today?" You know, "We've missed him," because that might just be enough to jog that memory for the parent to remember, "Oh gosh, the kid's in the car." Have signs in break rooms and in lobbies of places, reminding people don't leave your child alone in the car. Put something in the backseat that would make you look there, your cell phone, your purse, your lunchbox, a shoe, anything that you would not enter a workplace or go shopping without. But just some little things like that can go a long way.

There's a lot of campaigns like Look Before You Lock. Look to make sure nobody is left behind before you lock the car. Look in the car. You talked about, you know, making sure that everybody is accounted for. When things are chaotic and you're trying to get somewhere, into church or whatever, make sure that everybody is accounted for. Because sometimes during that chaos, somebody will think someone else got the baby out of the car seat. You go to the nursery to pick it up at the end of church service, and the baby's not there, it was never brought in. So just, you know, thinking about little things that you can put in place. Someone takes your child to daycare on that day, follow up with them and say, "How was drop off?"

Host: Yeah, "How'd it go?" Right. Yeah.

Sherri Hannan: Because a simple call can jog somebody's memory, hopefully before things are too late. So, those are just a few suggestions. Keep those cars locked, keys out of sight, out of reach of kids, so that they don't get in the car, access. And look, if you miss a child, look in the pool first, but look in the car second.

Host: Pool first, car second. And if you see someone else's kid in a car on a whatever type of day, you know, if you're not going to wait there to see when the parent comes back, then do something. Call 911. In an extreme case, possibly break the window yourself as a Good Samaritan. But really great advice today, Sherri. Thanks so much. You stay well.

Sherri Hannan: Thank you. Thanks for having me and discussing this important topic.

Host: And for more information, visit the Kentucky Children's Hospital website. And that wraps up another episode of UK HealthCast from UK HealthCare. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other UK HealthCare podcasts. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well.