An 18-month-old died after being found unresponsive in a vehicle in West Des Moines earlier this month, marking the eighth such hot car child death in the state since 1998. Laura Dunn, a safety specialist with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says a child’s body temperature rises up to five times faster than an adult’s and can quickly reach dangerous levels in a car, even if it’s parked in the shade or the windows are open a crack.
Studies find pediatric heatstroke can happen at temperatures as low as 60 degrees, and a child will die much more quickly if temperatures are in the 80s or 90s.
Dunn suggests parents make an arrangement with their childcare provider that might help prevent a tragedy…