An alarming number of babies and toddlers die of heat stroke every year after being left inside a hot car. A new PSA is showing parents exactly how this happens. "One Decision," a video on vehicular heat stroke, is a simple reenactment of a mom leaving her child in the car while she stops into a store to pick up "just a few things." The result is devastating. But the most distressing thing of all — the mom looks like any one of us, not the evil monster we imagine in these cases.
She's not a slob, she's not on drugs, she looks like an ordinary, responsible, middle-class mom. But she makes one bad choice. And the people who notice her baby locked inside the car also made a poor choice by not saying or doing anything.
Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNDWN8KDVSM
It can take just 15 minutes for a child in a hot car to suffer life-threatening brain or kidney injuries. Fifteen minutes is about how long it can take to run into the grocery store to pick up some milk. Of course, you probably know plenty of people who have left their babies in the car for just a few minutes and nothing bad happened, and that's kind of why kids keep dying. Children don't die every time, so somehow parents seem to think it's a safe gamble to make — but it's not. (Read more about how heatstroke works on small children left in cars.)
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And then there are the parents who leave their kids in the car by accident because they're preoccupied, busy, or just plain sleep-deprived. For these parents, the Cars and Kids organization has helpful tips for preventing vehicular heat stroke.
__B__ack seat: Put something in the back seat whenever you strap a child in, so you have to open the back door, or at least turn around to find that item, when you get out of the car. Your handbag or briefcase, cellphone, or employee badge.
__E__very child should be correctly restrained in the back seat.
__S__tuffed animal: Keep a brightly colored one in the car seat when your child isn’t there. Then move it from the car seat to the front seat after you strap your child in, to remind you when your baby is in the back seat.
__A__sk your baby sitter or child-care provider to call you within 10 minutes if your child hasn't arrived on time.
__F__ocus on driving: Avoid cellphone calls and text-messaging while driving.
__E__very time you park your vehicle — every single time — open the back door to make sure no one has been left behind.
Image via RedCastleProductions/YouTube
