Kids in hot cars: Always a risk

PRINCETON, WV (WVNS) — As temperatures creep higher, medical experts say it is important to make sure you do not leave your child unattended in your vehicle.

The National Safety Council says that on average, 37 children under the age of 15 die of heatstroke after being left in a hot car. 2024 has already seen two of these deaths.

Kids and Car Safety reports that the second such death was in our own state in Morgantown in May.

Why are children so much more susceptible to the heat? Doctor Edwin Leap, a staff emergency physician with WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital, explained.

“The heat from a child’s body can’t go anywhere. Children have higher metabolic rates than adults, so they make heat more,” said Dr. Leap. “And they have smaller surface area to body size, so they can’t evaporate through sweating as well. They can’t sweat as well as adults. So, all these things are against them.”

Children’s bodies are inherently different than adults and this makes them more likely to have issues with high temperatures.

If a child is left inside a hot vehicle, or gains access to one themselves, there is only a short amount of time before a critical stage sets in.

“So, there are different estimates on time as to critical illness and how quickly someone gets what’s called heatstroke,” said Dr. Leap. “But I would not want to give someone a time that’s a safe amount of time. There’s really no safe amount of time leaving a small child in a car. There just isn’t.”

Doctor Leap said that critical illness does usually begin to occur around 30 to 45 minutes.

He says that “critical illness” is a blanket term for a number of effects.

“What happens is the heat causes metabolic disruptions in your cells, so cells go into organ… Can lead to fail to organ failure. So, kidney failure, liver failure, and neurologic changes that cause them to be excessively sleepy, confused, have a seizure, but all these things over time, if untreated can result in not only organ failure, but death.” said Dr. Leap.

Leaving a child in a hot car could cost them their life.

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