The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is hoping to bring awareness to South Carolinians regarding the dangers of leaving children and pets in cars during hot summer months.
South Carolina ranked 16th in the nation for the number of child deaths due to being left in a hot car between 1990 and 2020, according to the National Safety Council, a nonprofit safety advocacy group.
There are three primary reasons people leave their children in their cars, according to DHEC’s director of public health, Brannon Traxler:
- A parent or guardian intentionally leaves the child in a vehicle while doing something else
- A child locks themselves into a vehicle without a parent or guardian’s awareness
- A parent or guardian forgets a child in a vehicle
All of which are preventable, DHEC said in a statement. Children should never be left in a car intentionally for any length of time; cars should be kept locked; and a simple routine should keep children from being forgotten, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
DHEC officials urged South Carolina residents to report any child they see locked in cars to the police and do whatever is needed to protect the child from heat stroke and death.
Heat stroke occurs when the body’s internal temperature reaches about 107 degrees. Then, organs begin to fail.
South Carolina’s Good Samaritan Law protects people who break a window to retrieve a child if the car’s owner is not reachable.
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