By NICOLE VALICEK
AMBULANCE Victoria paramedics are disappointed many parents are ignoring the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars.
Paramedics were called to 620 cases of people locked in cars in the five months September 2013 to January 2014.
Of those cases, 99 people needed treatment by paramedics, with 24 taken to hospital, eight of those came from the Hobsons Bay area.
The highest number occurred in Altona North where three incidents were recorded, with two incidents each in Newport and Altona, and one in Williamstown.
Almost two thirds of the 620 Triple-zero calls reporting someone locked in a car involved a child aged under 13 years.
Surprisingly, it’s estimated one third of calls involved an adult locked in a car. These include the elderly and people with conditions which prevent them letting themselves out of the car.
Although summer is over, Ambulance Victoria Group Manager Brett Drummond warns people not to be complacent about safety in vehicles.
“It doesn’t have to be a scorching hot day for the car to quickly heat up,” he said.
“Tests by Ambulance Victoria found that even on a 29 degree Celsius day the inside of a car can reach 44 degrees within 10 minutes and hit 60 degrees within 20 minutes.”
Mr Drummond said with all of the media coverage and advertising over summer warning about the dangers of leaving children in cars, the number of calls to people locked in a car in the last five months was disappointing.
“Tragically, there have been cases of children dying in hot cars in Victoria in recent years and it’s not worth risking leaving your children in a car.”
Mr Drummond said accidents where keys were locked in the car with a child were common, while other cases were deliberate acts.
“Some people think they can just duck into the shop and leave their child but there’s a risk they will be delayed and it’s a risk that’s not worth taking,” he said.
