Death of Infant Left in Car Fifth Case This Year

The who was left in a car in Kennesaw for more than five hours on Wednesday is the first child in Georgia and the fifth in the nation to die from being left in a hot vehicle so far this year.

The infant was in the care of a female family member, not the mother, at the time of the incident, said police. The family member arrived at her job at  at around noon but forgot about the infant, who was sleeping in the car.

At least five hours passed before Kennesaw Police were dispatched to the scene.

"Apparently, she (the family member) arrived for work down at the day care and was taking stuff in and out of the car and was distracted," Kennesaw Police Officer Scott Luther told Patch. "It was a tragic accident."

Jan Null, an Adjunct Professor of Meteorology at San Francisco State University, has published research on the dynamics of how hot vehicles can become. Null's studies also track hyperthermia deaths of children in vehicles.

"With an outside air temperature of 90 degrees, the inside air temperature of the car could have been as high as 135 degrees. Objects or a person inside the car in direct sunlight would have been significantly hotter," said Null.

According to Null's research, even when the temperature is relatively cool, rapid and significant heating can occur within the interior of a vehicle. Null's studies show that with an outside temperature of 72 degrees, the internal vehicle temperature can reach 117 degrees within 60 minutes, with 80 percent of the increase occurring in the first half an hour.

Null's research further notes that children are more susceptible to heat illness, which is divided into three phases: heat stress or physical discomfort from a hot environment, followed by heat exhaustion caused by dehydration and finally, heat stroke, which can result in "delirium, convulsions, coma, and death."

Amber Rollins of KidsandCars.org said Georgia ranks as the 7th highest state in the nation regarding vehicular heat stroke deaths. Kids and Cars lists a number of precautions that should be taken to prevent such an incident:

• Never leave a child alone in a vehicle.
• Keep an item of importance, such as cell phone or brief case, on the floor board in the back seat.
• Practice the "Look Before you Lock" method by getting in the habit of always opening the back door of your vehicle each time you reach your destination.
• Make arrangements with your child’s day care center or babysitter to call if the child is not there as scheduled.
• When a child is missing, check vehicles and car trunks immediately.
•  If you see a child alone in a vehicle, get involved.

For more safety tips, please visit KidsandCars.org. For Jan Null's research on hyperthermia deaths of children in vehicles, click here, here and here.