BRIMBANK paramedics are urging parents to be more diligent after ambulances were called to more than 50 incidents where children were left in cars in the year to August 31.
Data taken from the triple-0 call register reveals that, in that time, paramedics were called to 29 cases of children being locked in cars in Brimbank. More than 90 per cent of cases involved children aged under four.
Of the suburbs, Sunshine had the highest number of incidents with 11, followed by Caroline Springs (10). There were eight calls to triple-0 in Deer Park and Taylors Lakes, six in St Albans and five in Burnside.
Ambulance Victoria group manager Brett Drummond warned parents that leaving children in a car on a hot day, even for a few minutes, could be deadly. “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.
“Tests by Ambulance Victoria found that 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. This can be catastrophic and unfortunately in the past there have been cases of children dying in hot cars.”
