Children dying in hot cars - an avoidable tragedy

With temperatures soaring and humidity rising, the brutal UAE summer has most certainly arrived - and sadly with it, so have the tragedies.

This week's news of a three-year-old boy's untimely death after being left in the backseat of a car has shocked the UAE community.

Forgotten by his parents in the back of a baking car parked in a garage in Ras Al Khaimah for two hours, the little boy suffocated to death.

According to experts, at an outside temperature of just 22C, the enclosed space of a car can be transformed into nothing short of a burning oven, with the temperature reaching up to 38C in just 30 minutes. A child's body heats up faster than an adult's and at a body temperature of 40C, internal organs can shut down; by 42C, a child will die.

With temperatures in the UAE reaching up to 40C, the boy’s final moments were inconceivable.

AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY

And yet this is not the first time such a tragedy has shaken us. In fact, it has become a regular summer occurrence.

Last June, a three-year-old Emirati died after being left in a car for almost four hours. A month later, a five-year-old girl, also an Emirati, died after she was forgotten in a car for two hours. In 2009, a four-year-old girl was left in the back of a bus in Abu Dhabi for three hours and in 2008, another four-year-old was locked in a school van.

Year after year, we read the same stories, with similar circumstances: a child forgotten by mistake, a child left unattended for what parents hoped would be a short while. But each year, the results are the same.

Heartbreaking? Yes, but what's worse is that these accidents are completely avoidable.

Buckle Up In The Back, a non-profit awareness campaign educating residents on child car safety, had already just launched an online campaign to inform people of the consequences of leaving kids in hot cars. Using graphics showing how quickly cars heat up, the campaign aims to educate parents on the dangers of heat in cars.

Leslie Cully started the heat campaign after she heard of a similar incident at her children’s school.

"I heard a story at school where a parent left a young child in the car and I knew about the deaths last year so I produced a poster about heat rising and how it can kill. Very sadly the news came out over the weekend that a child had died in Ras Al Khaimah," Cully said.

"It is just horrific and something needs to be done. We need more awareness about heat and we need to tell people that heat can kill. We need to be more aware and we need to be more responsible."

Her posters have been shared across social networks and the message is spreading, Cully said.

"One poster has been shared more than 180 times on Facebook and now it's being shared across Twitter and businesses and I'm also trying to get it translated into different languages. People want to help spread awareness and we need to do this before other children are put at risk."

Similar campaigns have been started around the world, as hot-car deaths are a worldwide problem. In the USA, experts estimate one child is killed by being forgotten in a hot vehicle nearly every 10 days.

AWARENESS

Officials say it all boils down to parental negligence, warning caregivers to be more vigilant when it comes to leaving children unattended.

Brigadier Saleh Al Matrooshi, the director general of Ajman Civil Defence, told Gulf News: “Unattended children suffocating inside a car is clear evidence of family negligence and poor judgment of the potential dangers involved.

“Never leave children alone and always count numbers in your party as you leave your car,” he said. “Make sure you have everyone before you lock it.”

But how can we blame parents who have lost a child, whose pain and guilt is unthinkable?

"The parents that have lost the child - I can’t blame them,” says Cully, “They've lost a child and we can't say anything to them as their grief is unimaginable. But let's get more people aware so they can make an educated decision.

"Terrible tragedies happen and we can't avoid them, but this one is avoidable,” she said.

READERS REACT

Yahoo! Maktoob readers reacted with dismay at the story, with many calling on parents to get their priorities right.

“First, parents want kids. Then, mothers need to bear their children in their wombs for nine months hoping their babies are delivered normally. Then what happens? Kids are left to the maids or not being taken care of properly. Kids are blessings from Allah. As parents, we are responsible for them as we brought them to this world,” one Yahoo! Maktoob commenter named Em said.

“Every summer, there is always a report about children dying in this senseless way. When are you ever gonna learn. So careless...,” remarked Evolution.

Some even called on the parents to be punished.

“Useless and careless attitude by the parents. Must punish them severely,” commented Viji and Ruchita.

Other sympathised with them. “Losing their loved one is the most horrible punishments. Why should be punished more? May God give them the courage to overcome this,” Ayub commented.

But perhaps another commenter, Carmela Pascual, says it best: “There is a saying: "If it is God's will, we can’t do anything”. I believe in this, but it’s human nature to find someone to be blame for something that went wrong. But what is the use of blaming? We will just put those parents or people in a very distressed situation. Nobody wants something like this to happen, especially if kids are involved. Let’s just pray for his soul and take more care in the future... God Bless To All.”