In July, a record number of children died in hot cars

Фото: Depositphotos

As of 31 July, the number of children who died from heat stroke in hot cars in the United States was a record high.

This year, 29 children died from heat stroke after they were left in the vehicle. This is more than in previous years, according to Jan Null, a certified meteorological consultant in the Department of Meteorology and Climatology at the University of San Jose. 11 of these deaths were ascertained last week.

The previous record as of 31 in July was 28 deaths in 2010, he explained, adding that 49 deaths were recorded for the entire year.

However, the data are not accurate, as Null tracks the number of deaths from the media, which also do not always differ in accuracy.

“If a case was coded incorrectly, it doesn’t count,” he said. Only about half the data you'll find in the media appeared in official reports, he said.

Null began tracking these unfortunate events in 2001, when local media after a child’s death in a car asked him how hot air got into the car. Not knowing the answer, he decided to conduct his own research.

To do this, he put a remote thermometer in the vehicle to record the internal temperature, and the external thermometer recorded the ambient temperature. (Null records the temperature in Fahrenheit for his site.)

“One of the really surprising things when I started researching this was the increase in air temperature severalfold,” Null said. “It’s like you have your air conditioner on, you pull into a parking space, you park your car, you turn it off, you close the door, and time goes by.” In the first 10 minutes the average rise is 19°F.”

If the temperature in the car is initially 70 ° F (21 ° C), in 10 minutes it will be 89 ° F (31,5 ° C). If you start with 90 ° F (32 ° C), in 10 minutes it will be 109 ° F (42,7 ° C).

Medical professionals usually come from body temperature at 104 ° F (40 ° C) to determine heat stroke, and death can occur when the body temperature reaches 107 ° F (41,7 ° C), notes Null.

“Even during the day at 26°C you will get 42,7°C after 20 minutes inside the car,” he said.

Even when the outside temperature reaches 13,8 ° C, the temperature in the car can rise to 43 ° C, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration based on data provided by Null.

How does temperature affect children

According to the Mayo Clinic, the central nervous system is not developed in children, so they are less able to cope with changes in temperature. For the same reason, children have difficulty with hydration. In addition, the temperature of a child’s body can rise five times faster than that of an adult.

When body temperature rises, heat stroke can occur, which causes changes in consciousness and leads to irreversible damage to the brain, heart and kidneys. In the worst case, heat stroke can be fatal for both a child and an adult.

Read also on ForumDaily:

The best and worst states in the safety of children in the car

Rules for children in the school bus and car

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.