MONROE – The sun doesn’t need to be blazing. The temperatures don’t need to be breaking records.
Leaving a child in a closed car can cause serious injury or death even under cloudy skies, experts say.
Temperatures inside cars rise quickly, as much as 20 degrees in 10 minutes. The simple rule is to never leave a child unattended in a car, officials said.
“Even on mild days – not even the hottest days – temperatures can rise to dangerous levels in a matter of minutes,” Snohomish County SafeKIDS spokeswoman Shawneri Guzman said. “It’s kind of like being in a microwave.”
On July 13, police cited a Monroe woman, 43, for reckless endangerment after she left her year-old grandchild alone in a car for about 30 minutes, Monroe police Sgt. Cindy Chessie said.
The child was fine, but the case serves as a reminder never to leave children alone in cars.
In addition to the concerns about heat, there are other reasons not to leave a child alone.
“It’s a very unsafe thing to do. The child can unlock the car and get out. A parked car could get struck by another car. Or someone could take the child from the vehicle,” Chessie said.
On average, three dozen children left in cars die each year in the United States, said Jan Null, a California meteorologist who has studied how quickly temperatures rise inside cars.
“They can die fairly rapidly from the heat,” he said.
Children aren’t good at dealing with heat, said Dr. Heather Schultz, a pediatrician at Providence Everett Medical Center.
“It takes less time for them to heat up very quickly,” she said.
Cars can become greenhouses where temperatures quickly rise, Null said. Cracking the window does little to prevent the oven-like atmosphere inside the car.
The problem is worse in parts of the country where it’s warmer. Still, three children have died in Washington and Oregon in the last few years.
After more clouds and a chance of rain today, skies are expected to clear on Tuesday with temperatures reaching the high 70s by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Even with temperatures in the 70s, a child left for 30 minutes in a closed-up car could be subjected to temperatures as high as 115 degrees, Null said.
Children dehydrate quickly. At all times, it’s a good idea to give them water or sports drinks often, Schultz said.
Still, each summer, she said she ends up treating children who were left in cars.
“I’m horrified. People don’t realize how seriously they’re endangering a child leaving them even for brief periods,” she said. “You’re really putting the child’s life at risk.”
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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