CAMDEN — We found ourselves reading almost in disbelief these facts published recently in the Camden News.
More children died in hot cars in the United States in 2018 than in any other year on record, according to Dr. Janette Wheat, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff associate professor and Cooperative Extension Program human development specialist.
How can that be possible, we wondered, with all the information that has been published, broadcast and sent worldwide on the Internet about this tragedy that occurs so often?
How can there possibly still be that many people out there who, despite warning after warning, leave children to cruelly die in smothering hot vehicles?
Unbelievable it still happens and, according to Dr. Wheat, it has been happening at a record pace.
Almost a quarter, 24 percent, of the child deaths in hot cars, happened in workplace parking lots while parents or caregivers were at work, Wheat reported. Obviously, distractions and parents or guardians thinking about things such as work instead of focusing intently on the children in the car play crucial parts in kids being left to suffer and die in hot vehicles.
The deadly pattern continues in 2019. With most of the hot summer still ahead of us, at least seven children have already died from vehicular heatstroke, according to Wheat who offered these preventive tips:
• To remind yourself that a child is in the car, keep a stuffed animal in the car seat. When the child is buckled in, place the stuffed animal in the front with the driver.
• When leaving your car, check to be sure everyone is out of the car. Do not overlook any children who have fallen asleep in the car.
A suggestion we heard is to, after securing the child in the back seat, put your cell phone in the car trunk or vehicle hatch. As constantly connected to cell phones as most adults are, it would not be long before a cell phone’s absence would be noted, providing a life-saving reminder that a child is still in the vehicle.
Please, please pay attention. Devise a method that works for you and let’s not ever have a Ouachita County child experience such a horrible fate.