{"id":174734,"date":"2010-01-13T13:00:55","date_gmt":"2010-01-13T18:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/childrenshospitalblog.org\/?p=4084"},"modified":"2010-01-13T13:00:55","modified_gmt":"2010-01-13T18:00:55","slug":"winter-advisory-%e2%80%93-never-leave-a-child-in-the-car-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/174734","title":{"rendered":"Winter advisory \u2013 never leave a child in the car alone"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\"stockphotopro_75874292ARC_no_title\"Lois Lee, MD, MPH<\/a> works in Children\u2019s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

You often hear about children being left in cars in the middle of the summer, but did you know that it can be equally dangerous during the winter months?<\/p>\n

Many parents probably understand the temptation to leave their young child in the car for “just a second” to run a quick errand, especially if the child is sleeping. But no matter how quickly you think you will be back to your car, you should never leave a child in the car alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, a mother left her two young children in an unheated car<\/a> in 28 degree weather for 18 minutes while she had a tanning session in a salon. Thankfully the children were unharmed, but they could have suffered from cold related injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the same scenario occurs at other times of the year. It is particularly dangerous if a young child is left in a car on a hot day when they can develop dehydration <\/a>or hyperthermia<\/a>, which can even lead to death.<\/p>\n

There are other perils related to leaving children in the car unsupervised as well.<\/p>\n