PROSPER, Texas — As the summer heat wave arrives in Texas, first responders in Prosper ran through a demonstration on Monday to prepare for the possibility of hot car calls.
“It is a repeat every single year,” said Prosper Fire Chief Stuart Blasingame. “We are going to hear about it and read about it and it is unnecessary.”
Cook Children’s Medical Center planned the demonstration as a reminder to parents that even in 70-degree weather, it just takes a matter of minutes for a car to reach temperatures that could prove deadly to children.
During the demonstration, an acting passerby noticed a baby, portrayed by a doll, in a backseat and called 911 providing as much information as she could about her location and what she is seeing inside the car. Fire and EMS then arrived and quickly accessed the car before loading the baby into the ambulance.
“(Babies) are producing heat at a higher rate than we are as adults,” said Dr. Meena Guirguis with Cook Children’s. “They also do not sweat like we do at the same temperatures.”
Monday’s demonstration included new technology inside car seats and the cars themselves which help sound alarms or reminders if a child is left behind in a hot car.
Although first responders are given discretion to break into a vehicle to save a distressed child in hot car, Blasingame cautioned against bystanders trying to do the same.
“There are several things when you break a window you have to think about,” he said. “Glass will go everywhere because it will shatter. We know how to do it without injuring the baby so we would say leave that to us.”
According to NoHeatStroke.org, eight children including a 4-year-old in Houston have died this year in the United States after suffering heat stroke inside a hot car.