Health official warns against leaving your kids in the car, even for a few minutes, in this heat

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - With the start of summer, it’s important to be cautious of your kid’s health and safety in your car. One health official warns that you shouldn’t leave your kid in the car, even if just for a few minutes, in this weather.

Leaving your kid in the car can have potentially deadly consequences. Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department’s Community Health Director Malcolm Lanham says it can cause both heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The smaller the kid, the higher the risk.

If your child’s body heat reaches 104 degrees, they can get heat stroke. If their body temperature reaches 107 degrees, the results can be fatal, according to Malcolm.

Heat-related illness in kids can happen faster than you think.

“I’ve seen it before where a parent leaves their kid in the car for just a couple minutes to run an errand, get something at the store, or whatever - come back out and the child has a heat illness of some kind,” Lanham said.

Here are some signs your kid is starting to have a heat-related illness…

• Dizziness
• Getting agitated easily
• Being disoriented
• Nausea
• Fast breathing
• Vomiting
• Seizures
• Losing consciousness

Lanham warns that strapping your kids in too tightly can also cause heat-related sickness.

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