This post was sponsored by Auto Alliance as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Summer + our kids + cars = the need for us to be more vigilant. As parents I know we would do anything to protect our kids. With temperatures on the rise, there are three easy ways to prevent heatstroke in children and keep them safe this summer!
3 WAYS TO PREVENT HEATSTROKE IN CHILDREN
Summer is all about safety for me. My kids are on their bikes more, they’re swimming more, we’re traveling a lot, and I’ve got safety on my mind.
We want our kids to be safe whether they’re on a bike or in the pool. Then there are road trips to think of! So what about in the car? I’m all about car safety, but when I think about car safety, I usually think about things like car seats and child safety locks. But heatstroke is a huge safety concern too!
Each summer we hear the tragic stories of children left alone in a hot car. In the U.S, an average of 37 children suffer from heatstroke deaths. I know it’s so easy to say that would never happen to us, but accidents happen. If we’re even more vigilant, we can avoid these deaths.
In many of the cases of heatstroke death, the children are left in the car by mistake. They’re often younger children with 75% being under two years old and 50% under a year old. Thankfully there are some simple things we can do to help prevent these deaths.
I look back at photos of Carrigan when she was under a year old and I cannot imagine what it would have been like to lose her.
If you’ve ever gotten into your car on a summer day, you know that the temperature inside can be way hotter than outside. This summer I learned that when the temperature is only 70 degrees outside, within 15 minutes the inside of a parked car can heat up to 120 degrees! This can happen even if you leave the windows open!
I didn’t know it could heat up that quickly and with the windows down! It blew my mind! Since a child’s body can heat up 3-5 times faster than adults, the heat is especially dangerous for our kids!
ACT TO PREVENT HEATSTROKE
To help us all, the Auto Alliance has launched a campaign that supports the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration’s “Look Before You Lock: Never Leave A Child Alone in a Car” outreach.
The Auto Alliance is encouraging us all to ACT to prevent heatstroke in children. It’s simple to ACT by following these three easy tips.
1. A is for Avoid.
As parents, we need to remain vigilant this summer and make sure that we avoid heatstroke-related injuries by making sure our kids are not left in the car alone for even a moment and by making sure our vehicles are locked when we’re not in them.
2. C is for Create Reminders.
Most of us think we would never forget our children in the car. But then we hear stories of parents whose routine may have changed for a day or similar accidents. So it’s important to have reminders for ourselves, especially if you have young children. It’s so simple to place something in the backseat with your child. Choose something you’ll need when you arrive so you know you’ll stop to get it out before leaving the car.
It may seem silly but it’s so simple that it would be silly for us not to do it!
3. T is for Take Action.
This is another simple tip. If you see a child in a car alone, call 911. It’s a call that could save a life. Emergency responders are trained to help in these situations, so don’t hesitate to make the call.
By doing these simple things, we can be safer this summer and help keep our kids from suffering from heatstroke-related injury or death.
Visit the Auto Alliance website to learn more.
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