Searing Heat Is Dangerous

With temperatures expected to hit the mid90s this week, motorists need to take extra precautions to ensure children and pets are not left unattended in vehicles where they could suffer heatstroke. Sweltering summer heat can quickly send temperatures inside vehicles well past the point that can injure and kill children and pets. So far this year 11 children have died from vehicular heatstroke. In 2022, this preventable tragedy killed 33 children. Since 1998, the year pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths were first recorded, 950 children have perished in hot vehicles.

when children are forgotten in the vehicle by their caregiver, it is common that there was a change in the daily routine, such as a parent dropping the child off at daycare who would not normally have that responsibility. More than a quarter of heatstroke tragedies are caused by children gaining access to a vehicle on their own, without a parent or caregiver realizing. Examples include young children playing games such as “hide and seek” and entering a hot vehicle to be quickly overcome by hyperthermia. It is critical to lock parked vehicles to reduce this risk.

This wide-line ranch-style home at 36 Berkley Ln. in Syosset sold on July 12 for $920,000. It is in a premier neighborhood location on an oversized property. The home has a heated and fenced-in pool, fire pit and deck and is perfect for entertaining. The lower level offers potential for a fourth bedroom and has a newly renovated bathroom. The recreation room is huge. The main level has wood flooring and a great room with a sunken den and fireplace. There are sliders to the backyard. The primary bedroom has a new full bathroom.

On a summer day, leaving a child or a pet inside a vehicle for less than 10 minutes can prove fatal. The bodies of children and pets heat up three to five times faster than adults and can quickly exceed a core body temperature of 104 degrees where brain and organ damage begin, and death quickly follows. On a 70-degree day, with the windows cracked, the temperature inside a closed vehicle can reach over 115 degrees in less than 15 minutes. Even on cool days, the greenhouse effect of a vehicle interior can be dangerous. In 2016, heatstroke killed a 13-monthold in Rossville, GA, when the outside temperature was 52 degrees. In 2012 two brothers aged 2 and 4 died in Mesa, CO, when the air temperature was a near-freezing 35 degrees.

It is important to note that

Children are often knowingly left in a vehicle; 20 percent of these deaths occur because a caregiver left the child intentionally, yet not necessarily maliciously. Young children are left to “finish a nap” or the caregiver runs into a store to complete an errand without the child, not realizing how quickly brain damage can occur. Twenty-one states have laws preventing caregivers from leaving children unattended in a vehicle. Never leave children or pets unattended in a vehicle. Children or pets left alone in a vehicle should be reported to 911 and, if necessary, action taken to remove them. “Look before you lock” your vehicle and when you exit, keep the vehicle locked so a child cannot gain access.

—AAA Northeast

Homes shown here represent closed sales, sold by a variety of agencies and are selected for their interest to readers by the Anton Media Group editor. Except where noted, data and photos are provided courtesy of Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, Inc. and Zillow.

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