Twittercue: This yr 5 children in SC, GA, TX, CA have already died of #heatstroke in hot vehicles. Check backseat. #LookBeforeYouLock
NEWS RELEASE
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KidsAndCars.org
7532 Wyoming St., Kansas City, MO 64114
Office: 816-216-7085,
Contacts:
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KidsAndCars.org, Ray Ray's Pledge to promote
National Heat Awareness Day May 23 |
| Social media campaign warns about dangers to children in hot vehicles |
May 23, 2014 - Summer hasn't even arrived yet, and already this year five children in four states - South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and California - have died from heatstroke in vehicles. KidsAndCars.org, Ray Ray's Pledge and other child-safety groups are joining forces on Friday, May 23, for a 24-hour social media campaign aimed at raising awareness to prevent child heatstroke deaths in vehicles.
The groups will post facts and prevention tips related to child vehicular heatstroke throughout the day, and ask that the public and media outlets join them in support of this national effort. Facebook and Twitter users can find photos and posts to share at the KidsAndCars.org Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/KidsAndCars.org). |
Examples of posts and images that will be shared include;
- 44 children died of #heatstroke in vehicles in 2013. Check backseat, create reminders! Keep your baby safe! #LookBeforeYouLock
- Set a policy with daycare to call you IMMEDIATELY if your child doesn't show up. Prevent child #heatstroke in vehicles! #RayRaysPledge
- Can't find your child? Check inside your vehicle & trunk IMMEDIATELY to prevent #heatstroke. Keep car locked at home.
- If you see a child alone in a car, call 911! A car acts like a greenhouse, heating up to lethal temperatures in minutes. Prevent #heatstroke
- Even the most loving, responsible parents have unknowingly left their child in a vehicle. Prevent #heatstroke! #LookBeforeYouLock
"The worst thing any parent or caregiver can do is think that this could never happen to them or that they are not capable of inadvertently leaving their child behind," says Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, the leading national nonprofit child safety organization working to prevent injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles.
"This can and does happen to the most loving, responsible and attentive parents," she added. Since the group began tracking data, at least 719 children have died from heatstroke inside vehicles. Last year was one of the worst years in history with a total of 44 children deaths. "We need everyone to understand that these tragedies are not only predictable, they are also very preventable," she said.
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Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org
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| Click image to enlarge. |
Remember the following "Look Before You Lock" BE SAFE tips from KidsAndCars.org:
Back seat - Put something in the back seat so you have to open the back door when leaving the vehicle - cell phone, employee badge, handbag, etc.
Every child should be correctly restrained in the back seat.
Stuffed animal - Move it from the car seat to the front seat to remind you when your baby is in the back seat.
Ask your babysitter or childcare provider to call you within 10 minutes if your child hasn't arrived on time.
Focus on driving - Avoid cell phone calls and texting while driving.
Every time you park your vehicle open the back door to make sure no one has been left behind.
Through the "Look Before You Lock" educational campaign, the first of its kind, KidsAndCars.org has distributed nearly 500,000 safety education cards to birthing hospitals nationwide.
KidsAndCars.org urges everyone to read Pulitzer Prize-winning article, "Fatal Distraction," by the Washington Post journalist, Gene Weingarten http://ow.ly/ldDwUThis powerful feature is the best article ever written that explains how these heartbreaking and preventable tragedies can happen to anyone.
For additional information, statistics and charts specific to child vehicular heat stroke visit http://www.kidsandcars.org/heatstroke.html.
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| Founded in 1996, KidsAndCars.org is a national nonprofit child safety organization dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. KidAndCars.org promotes awareness among parents, caregivers and the general public about the dangers to children, including backover and frontover incidents, and heat stroke from being inadvertently left in a vehicle. The organization works to prevent tragedies through data collection, education and public awareness, policy change, product redesign and survivor advocacy. |
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