It’s really disturbing how many times I see pets left in cars in the parking lot even during the summer! Even more disturbing is people leave children in the car! A lot of people seem to be really ignorant to the fact that even with temperatures outside as low as 57 degrees, heatstroke can occur! In as little as 10 minutes, an automobile can heat up at least 20 degrees! Rolling down a window does very little to keep a car cool.

I have a great demonstration I tried myself after I saw that law enforcement officers are often required to be tased before using a taser. I sat out in my car in a parking lot on a hot day, and it didn’t take long before I was sweating like crazy! (Try this at your own risk, I’m in good health) It’s amazing to me that people don’t realize how hot a car gets inside. I think some people are just lazy and leave the pets in the car because they cannot bring them inside the store.

So what do you do if you see a child left in a car? According to Safercar.gov you take action! Call 911 and do whatever necessary to get the child out of the car if they are in distress! Good Samaritan laws protect you, so don’t worry about getting involved. If you have to break glass, make sure you break a window away from the child, unlock that door, and then you will be able to open the door near the child. Me and Kendra Maples carry a small glass breaker in our glove box for emergencies.

Download this information sheet from Safercar.gov

Additional Resources • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – safercar.gov/heatstroke • San Francisco State University, Department of Earth & Climate Sciences – ggweather.com/heat • Safe Kids – www.safekids.org • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – www.chop.edu

The dogs owner came out shortly after this video was shot and were thankfully okay.