By NATALIE GALLENTI
AS THE mercury rose last week Ambulance Victoria statistics revealed more than 900 cases of children locked in cars in the past 12 months, with Melton having one of the highest callouts in Melbourne’s West.
A total of 921 calls were made to Ambulance Victoria between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012, reporting a child (aged under 13) was locked in a car. More than 90 per cent of those were for children aged under four years.
The statistics revealed Melton had 17 cases reported, with 10 callouts in Caroline Springs, five in Taylors Hill and Burnside, three in Bacchus Marsh and two in Hillside.
Hoppers Crossing topped the list of Melbourne’s West with 26 calls.
The statistics come in the wake of the tragic death of a baby who was left in a car in Bendigo as the temperature hovered around 30 degrees last week.
The six-month-old baby girl was found in a late model Commodore and treated by police and paramedics at the scene before being taken to Bendigo Hospital, where she later died.
Caroline Springs Police Acting Senior Sergeant Paul Gatty said the issue was of “grave concern”.
Acting Snr Sgt Gatty said leaving children unattended in cars bordered on criminality, regardless of the temperature outside.
“Parents should never leave children in the car, not just in the heat. There are also concerns for children’s safety if left alone in the car,” he said.
He said parents needed to be educated on the dangers, but prosecution would follow any incident and the Department of Human Services would be contacted.
Ambulance Victoria group manager Brett Drummond said babies and young children are unable to regulate their body temperature like adults, so being left in a hot car can quickly become life threatening.
“Tests by Ambulance Victoria found even on a 29 degree day the inside of a car can heat up to 44 degrees within 10 minutes and reach 60 degrees within 20 minutes,” Mr Drummond said.
“This can be catastrophic and unfortunately in the past there have been cases of children dying in hot cars. Leaving them in the car even for a few minutes is not acceptable.”
Mr Drummond said some of the cases were deliberate acts, while others were the result of the keys being locked in the car with a child.
“Some people think they can just duck into the service station or a shop and leave their child but there’s a risk they will be delayed and it’s a risk that’s not worth taking.”
