Heat inside cars deadly for children, police warns parents

GRAHAM — When it’s hot outside, the temperature inside of a vehicle can be deadly.

Last month, a 2-year-old child died in Burke County while playing in a junk vehicle in a family’s back yard. Nationally, 530 children died from hyperthermia in vehicles between 1998 and 2011.

The majority of those deaths weren’t intentional. Often, it’s because children are playing in cars, a baby is accidentally forgotten in the back seat or a caregiver just doesn’t realize how quickly a car will reach a dangerous temperature.

“For the most part, people don’t intentionally leave their child alone or they leave them in a car for a little bit, thinking their child is OK,” said Graham police Sgt. Crystal O’Neal, who is a member of Safe Kids Alamance, an organization that works to prevent accidental childhood injuries.

People need to be reminded, O’Neal said.

She plans to provide a visual reminder at the Royals game at Burlington Athletic Stadium Sunday. It’s public safety day at the stadium, and law enforcement agencies, fire departments, paramedics and other personnel from emergency medical services will be at the stadium at 5 p.m. when the gates open for the 6 p.m. game. The agencies will provide information and there will be games and other fun for the family.

O’Neal will be making s’mores, a treat made of graham crackers as well as melted chocolate and marshmallows, to demonstrate just how hot a vehicle gets in the summertime. This past Wednesday, when the outside temperature was about 93 degrees, she did a trial run.

 “It is so much hotter in the car than people realize,” O’Neal said.

O’Neal put a temperature gauge in her vehicle, and the temperature reached a high of 118 degrees. She assembled the s’mores, wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them on the dashboard of the car.

“I had the s’mores in there for 30 minutes, and I think it was probably too long,” O’Neal said. “The marshmallow was gooey and the chocolate was completely liquid.”

O’Neal posted photos of the s’mores as well as information about the dangers of leaving children and pets in cars on the Graham Police Department’s Facebook page. She’ll share the same information on Sunday.

“One of the things I know is that children’s bodies heat up quicker than adults,” she said. “Children do die, and they die quickly from heat exposure.”

Of the 530 children who have died since 1998, 19 were from North Carolina. Prior to the death of the toddler in Burke County on June 7, the last death in the state was three years ago and occurred in Alamance County on March 9, 2009. The high temperature that day was 81 degrees.

Jackson Edmonds, a 16-month-old, died from hyperthermia related to heat and sun exposure after he was left sleeping in a car at Palmer Leigh Small World day care center in Haw River that was operated by Judy Avis Harper, 62. Harper pleaded guilty to child abuse and involuntary manslaughter in June 2010. She was sentenced to 16 to 29 months in prison and was released in October.

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