By ANEEKA SIMONIS
“DO not use your car as a substitute babysitter.”
That is the message coming from a number of emergency service crews across the shire who are reminding people that a locked car is always an unsafe space for children.
Pakenham CFA Station Officer Andrew Smith said more children were locked in cars during the colder months leading into winter due to an increased sense of ill-founded complacency.
According to CFA figures, one child is reported as being left in a locked vehicle each week over the cooler months and more than 22 cases in Pakenham were reported to police in the last eight months.
“It’s very distressing for the child,” he said.
The temperate inside a locked car can sometimes soar 30 degrees Celsius above outside temperatures, which can have adverse effects on small children, according to the CFA.
Pakenham-based paramedic Paul Thompson said he had been to a number of call-outs where a child has been left in a locked car, and advised drivers to remain vigilant during every season of the year.
“Even in winter, it’s a hazard,” he said.
“It doesn’t take much for it to heat up inside a locked car.”
Young children left in locked cars are at risk of dehydration, heatstroke, hyperthermia and asphyxia which can lead to death.
People caught leaving unattended children in cars can face a $3690 fine or a maximum of six months in jail.
