By NICOLE VALICEK
THE number of children locked in cars has risen, according to Ambulance Victoria, and paramedics are warning parents that such a practice could prove deadly.
Hobsons Bay had 17 calls for both adults and children being locked in cars between September last year and August 2013.
State-wide, paramedics responded to more than 1100 cases of children locked in cars during this same period.
That’s an increase of almost 200 on the previous year.
Children under 13 years comprised 87.4 per cent of incidents reported. Of that, 56.7 per cent were toddlers and 22.2 per cent were newborns.
The highest proportion of incidents involving children occurred between 11am and 3pm, with 13 per cent between noon and 1pm.
More than two thirds happened in a car park, beside a road or at a public place and a further 21 per cent happened at home.
Ambulance Victoria said an average of five calls were made a day during summer to triple-zero.
Group manager Brett Drummond said leaving children in a car could prove deadly.
“Tragically, there have been cases of children dying in hot cars in Victoria in recent years,” Mr Drummond said.
“Babies and young children can’t regulate their body temperature like adults can, so being left in a hot car can quickly become life threatening.”
He said it didn’t have to be a scorching hot day for the car to heat up quickly.
Tests by Ambulance Victoria found that even on a 29-degree day the inside of a car can reach 44 degrees within 10 minutes and hit 60 degrees within 20 minutes.
“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 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 ill be delayed and it’s a risk that’s not worth taking,” he said.
