Heat advisory, air quality alert issued: Major life-risk warning for children. How to safeguard your kids

Time of India

24-07-2025

Heat advisory
has been issued for parts of the U.S., including Ohio, Cleveland. Along with summer temperature warning, an
Air Quality alert
was sounded. The
air quality
warning has said that children and elderly persons must not engage in outdoor activities.
Child advocates warned parents and caretakers about the risks of heatstroke to children left inside hot vehicles during the heat wave. Last year, 39 children in the U.S. died after being left in hot cars. In June this year, nine children have died after being left unattended in vehicles in California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey and North Carolina, according to Kids and Car Safety, which collects data on hot car deaths. Five died in June.
Why are Hot Cars so Dangerous?
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Human-caused climate change keeps dialing up temperatures and extreme weather, scientists say. But the temperature outside doesn't have to be super hot for a child left in a vehicle to be affected by the heat, said Kathy Wall, director of Safe Kids Palm Beach County.
'Inside, the vehicle can heat up 20 degrees in just 20 minutes,' Wall said. 'So if you imagine it's an 80 degree day, which in South Florida is a cool day, it could be over 100 degrees within 10 minutes inside the car."
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Hot car deaths can happen any time of year, and since 1998, every state but Alaska has reported a hot car death, according to the National Safety Council. In both 2018 and 2019, a record 53 children died after being left in hot cars.
About 80 per cent of the heat rise in vehicles happens in the first 30 minutes of a child being left inside, when maximum temperatures can exceed 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius), according to data compiled by Jan Null, a certified consulting meteorologist at San Jose State University.
While it's easy to place blame for leaving a child in a vehicle, even people trained to know the dangers have made that tragic mistake, Wall said.
'It's not a socioeconomic group, it's not a cultural group,' she said. 'This sadly has happened to doctors, it's happened to dentists, it happened to school teachers, it's happened to child care workers. Nobody is exempt from this,' Wall said.
Distraction often leads to forgetting about a child in the backseat, which is why it is important to create routines and reminders, she said.
'It sounds crazy, but sometimes people get out of routines or are distracted, especially in today's world. There's lots going on in the news, lots going with families,' she said.
A parent who normally doesn't drop a child off at a day care facility might become distracted and forget that the child is in the vehicle, she said.
FAQs
Q1. Has heat advisory been issued?
A1. Heat advisory has been issued for parts of the U.S., including Ohio, Cleveland.
Q2. What do we know about hot car deaths?
A2. Hot car deaths can happen any time of year, and since 1998, every state but Alaska has reported a hot car death, according to the National Safety Council. In both 2018 and 2019, a record 53 children died after being left in hot cars.