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Child Advocacy Group Brings Kid Car, Window Hazards
to Public Attention
Warm weather brings new safety risks to children -
in particular, the risks of getting locked in a hot
car and falling out of an open window. |
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Those risks are
being highlighted this summer in Massachusetts by
the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children, but they can certainly be
applied across the nation as families change their
habits with the arrival of hot weather. Children
left alone in parked cars, with temperatures that
can rise rapidly even on mild days, can result in
heat exhaustion, dehydration and possibly death. And
windows left open and unsecured can result in falls
that kill or severely injure young children. |
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The campaign involving cars
seeks to remind parents never to leave children alone in a hot
car, even for a minute. If a child is sleeping, either wait a
few minutes until he or she is awake or just wake them up. The
society says there's nothing more scary than a sleeping child
who wakes up from a nap alone. Another suggestion is that
parents bring plenty of juice boxes on car trips to prevent
dehydration in hot weather. "We're asking parents and care
givers to be smart and protect our kids," says society marketing
director Robin Jones. "Even with windows down, the
temperature in a parked car can soar to 110 degrees in minutes."
For its safe windows campaign, the society recommends that
furniture be moved away from open windows so that kids aren't
tempted to climb up on it. It also recommends placing child
safety locks on windows and making sure all screens are safe and
secure.
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