Hot car fear

By Melissa Grant
AUTHORITIES are warning residents against leaving children in hot cars as temperatures across the state continue to soar.
Although emergency services have attended few incidences in Pakenham this year, CFA and SES personnel are reminding parents not to put their kids at risk.
Peter Morrison-Dowd from Pakenham SES said on a sunny day temperatures could quickly reach 40 degrees in a parked vehicle, which could cause permanent damage to a child in a matter of minutes.
“In the summer time it only takes two minutes and it will start to cook a baby,” he said.
“Dehydration comes on really quick.”
Mr Morrison-Dowd said last summer the SES attended an average of six incidences a week in Cardinia and Casey where a young child had been left in a locked car.
He said Pakenham children were most commonly left in parked cars in Main Street or near the Pakenham Plaza.
Mr Morrison said the problem was so bad that the SES was now only called if a door had to be removed to rescue a child from a vehicle.
“All it does is tie up valuable resources… it means the SES can’t attend road accidents in Cardinia,” he said. “Now the RACV are called out first… they break the window straight away.”
The CFA is also called out and Westernport BASO officer Lisa Hicks says parents have no excuse for leaving young children in scorching cars.
“It is a problem. Parents think ‘I’ll only be in the shop for a minute or two’ but that can extend if there’s long queues,” she said. “Children can’t roll down windows.
“It’s not worth the risk and it’s illegal… it can also become a DHS issue.”
Last year the State Government introduced new legislation after hundreds of children were rescued from cars in the sweltering heat the previous summer.
Under the Children, Youth and Families Act those who leave a child unattended in a hot car now face penalties of up to $1652 or three months’ jail.
President of Kidsafe Victoria Dr Mark Stokes said tragically in the past children had died from being left in cars and it didn’t take long for their life to be at risk on a hot day.
“Our message is clear: take the children with you. Hot cars are killers.”
“The temperature inside a parked car during the Australian summer can be 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the outside temperature.”
Dr Stokes said the younger the child, the greater the risk.
“A young child will quickly dehydrate, lapse into unconsciousness and may never fully recover,” he said.
Mr Morrison-Dowd urged parents to think about the long-term effects that leaving their child in a car could have on them. “It’s a hassle undoing car restraints but it’s nothing compared to having to change your lifestyle because your child has brain damage from dehydration,” he said.