• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Contact Us
  • Pay My Bill
  • Patient Portal
  • Show Search
KV Healthcare

KV Healthcare

Your Home for Health

MENUMENU
  • Find a Provider
  • Clinics & Specialties
        • Primary Clinics

        • KVH Family Medicine – Cle Elum
        • KVH Family Medicine – Ellensburg
        • KVH Home-Based Primary Care
        • KVH Internal & Adult Medicine
        • KVH Pediatrics
        • KVH Women’s Health
        • KVH Rapid Access
        • Specialty Services

        • Anticoagulation Clinic
        • Addiction Medicine
        • Specialty Clinics

        • ENT & Allergy
        • Cardiology
        • Dermatology
        • General Surgery
        • Home Health
        • Hospice
        • Neurology
        • Orthopedics
        • Urgent Care
        • Vascular Surgery
        • Workplace Health
        • Wound Care
        • Therapy Services

        • Physical Therapy
        • Speech Therapy
        • Occupational Therapy
  • Hospital Services
        • Services

        • Cardiopulmonary
        • Emergency Department
        • Imaging
        • Laboratory
        • Nutrition
        • Pharmacy
        • Surgical
        • Family Birthing Place

        • About Family Birthing Place
        • What to Expect
        • Birth & Family Education
        • Lactation Services
        • 4th Trimester Resource Center
        • Pregnancy & Infant Loss
  • Patients & Visitors
        • Patient Tools

        • Request Medical Records
        • Checking In
        • Visiting
        • Quality of Care
        • Patient Portal
        • Patient Policies
        • Insurance & Billing

        • Accepted Insurance
        • Price Transparency
        • Financial Assistance
        • Pay My Bill
        • No Surprise Act - Balanced Billing
  • About KVH
        • About KVH

        • About KVH
        • Mission & Vision
        • Board of Commissioners
        • Administration
        • Quality of Care
        • DAISY Award Program
        •  

        • News & Blog
        • Contact Us
        • Locations
        • Work With Us / Careers
        • Foundation

        • About the Foundation
        • Board of Directors
        • Ways to Give
        • Donate Now
        • Foundation Events
  • Donate Now
Hide Search

heatstroke

Vehicular Heat Stroke in Children

Elise Herman , MD · June 6, 2023 ·

Contributor Dr. Elise Herman

As summer approaches and the outdoor temperature increases, a danger looms for children- vehicular heatstroke (VHS), which is heat injury due to being in a hot car or other vehicle. These deaths are so preventable, and as a parent you may wonder how such a thing could happen, but vehicular heatstroke claims an average of 38 children’s lives a year in the US, with almost a thousand deaths since 1998.

Heat stroke is the most severe heat-related illness and occurs when the core body temperature is over 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit with signs of nervous system injury including confusion, seizures, and coma. Dehydration along with heat exposure can cause deadly heat stroke. Children are more at risk because they sweat less than adults and can overheat more quickly.

Vehicular heatstroke most often occurs when an adult ‘forgets’ a child in a car, often when the adult is on the way to work, intending to stop at childcare first. A change in routine such as a different parent doing the drop-off can also increase the risk. Parental stress or sleep deprivation can be contributing factors. Vehicular heat stroke can also occur if kids are playing in a car and accidentally lock themselves in.

The outside temperature does not need to be extremely high for vehicles to become dangerously hot. VHS has happened with outside temperatures as low as 57 degrees. A car can heat up 20 degrees in 10 minutes on a sunny day, and 72 degrees outside can become 117 degrees in a vehicle within 1 hour. Cracking the window or parking in the shade make little difference in term of the car heating up. Climate change also means more hot days and more extreme heat.

There are steps we can take to minimize the risk of this tragedy:

  • Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended even briefly
  • Make it a habit to open the back door of the car when you park, just to check the backseat.
  • Put some important item you need for your day- purse, iPad, employee badge, etc. in the back seat near your child.
  • Keep a stuffed animal or something similarly eye-catching in the car seat when empty and move it to the front passenger seat when the car seat is in use as a reminder.
  • Remember the phrase “Look before you lock”.
  • Instruct your childcare provider to contact a parent if a child is not dropped off as scheduled.
  • Keep car keys out of reach of kids, and teach them to never play inside cars, trunks, etc.
  • Teach your child to honk the horn if they are trapped inside a car.
  • If a child is missing, check all vehicles and trunks immediately.
  • If you ever see a child alone in a locked vehicle, call 911.

Resources

  • Prevent Child Deaths in Hot Cars / HealthyChildren.org
  • Extreme Heat: Keeping Kids Safe When Temperatures Soar / HealthyChildren.org
  • Kids in Hot Cars – Free Online Course / National Safety Council
  • Prevent Hot Car Deaths, Check the Back Seat / nhtsa.gov
  • Car Seat Safety > Heatstroke Prevention / cpsboard.org

more about The contributor

Dr. Elise Herman

Blog Posts
Profile

Dr. Herman is passionate about community health outreach, school programs, and child/family health and wellness. She has more than 31 years of experience as a pediatrician in Ellensburg, Washington, the last 3 with KVH Pediatrics. In 2022 Dr. Herman mostly retired from practice and continues to contribute blog posts and remain a visible advocate for kids in the community.

Primary Sidebar

    Footer Top 1

    HRSA National Health Service Corps Site

    Footer Top 2

    603 S. Chestnut Street - Ellensburg, WA 98926
    509.962.9841

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Footer Top 3

    Footer Bottom 1

    Download the MyPatient Portal App
    Apple Store Google Play Store

    Footer Bottom 2

    • About KVH
    • KVH Legal Information
    • Price Transparency
    • Careers
    • Board of Commissioners
    • Contact Us
    • Foundation

    Footer Bottom 3

    • Our Locations
    • Hospital Services
    • Clinics & Specialty Services
    • Patients & Visitors
    • Patient Policies
    • Events & Education
    • Press Releases

    Footer Bottom 4

    Google Translate