Another child has died of hyperthermia because he was forgotten in his dad’s hot car. I don’t know the facts surrounding this recent tragedy on Long Island, but I have read enough to know it can happen to anyone. Recent cases have involved parents who previously wouldn’t be considered negligent in their child’s care. An analysis of these horrible incidents has shown that a disruption in a family’s normal schedule (i.e alternate childcare arrangements, stress, sickness) has been a leading factor in these accidents.
I can’t imagine living with this if it happened to me. I will tell you, I almost did this once. I was running some errands with my 5 month old son and on our way home he fell asleep in the backseat. I parked the car near our building, grabbed my purse from the front seat, and got out of the car and locked it. I only got about 5 steps before I had a rush of panic throughout my whole body. I had left my son in the car! It was only 10 seconds but I wasn’t thinking about him during that moment. What if I had run into a friend on the street when I stepped out of the car? What if I had gotten a call at that moment? What if I hadn’t remembered?? I could invoke a major panic attack inside myself just thinking about the possibilities.
Because we live in NYC, we walk or take public transportation more than other cities, this is less likely to happen. But one critical piece of advice I read, is to always put something important in the backseat with your child: your purse, your phone, your wallet…something you will not leave the car without. Here is a good resource for additional tips: Kidsandcars.org