Multiple young children across the country have died in July after being left in hot cars amid an ongoing, record-smashing heat wave that has blanketed much of the U.S. in recent weeks.
The incidents include a 2-year-old in New York, a 2-month-old in New Jersey, a 5-year-old in Nebraska, and a 2-year-old in Arizona, who all died over the past week, according to the advocacy group Kids and Car Safety. Overall, at least 12 hot car deaths involving children have occurred nationwide so far in 2024.
Higher-than-usual temperatures have put millions of Americans under heat alert this summer and local officials have repeatedly warned residents of the dangerous effects of extreme heat. These high temperatures can be a health concern, especially for vulnerable populations, and put children at risk.
Safety experts have said temperatures in a vehicle can rapidly increase — rising to 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes — which can lead to potentially deadly incidents. Children who are left unattended in parked vehicles are at the "greatest risk for heat stroke, and possibly death," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On average, about 40 children die from heat stroke in a car each year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. Since 1990, more than 1,090 children have died in hot cars across the U.S., according to data collected by Kids and Car Safety.
"Approximately 88% of children who die in hot cars are age 3 or younger and the majority (55%) were unknowingly left by an otherwise loving, responsible parent or caregiver," the advocacy group said in a news release Wednesday.
Tips to prevent summer tragedy:Child hot car deaths could happen in any family.
As of Wednesday, at least four children have died since July 9 after being found in vehicles during the heat wave.
A 2-year-old died Tuesday evening after being left inside a car in Monticello, a village about 64 miles west of Poughkeepsie, New York. The Times Herald-Record, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that police officers responded to a 911 report of a child in cardiac arrest inside a vehicle outside an apartment complex around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Responding officers, firefighters, and an emergency medical services crew all tried to resuscitate the child, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
On Monday, authorities said an eight-week-old infant girl died after being left in a hot car for an "extended period of time" in Lakewood, New Jersey, a township about 38 miles west of Trenton. The Asbury Park Press, also part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that police responded to a call about a baby in cardiac arrest at about 1:45 p.m. Monday.
Police discovered emergency personnel attempting to save the child, but she died at the scene, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Authorities determined that the length of time the child was left in the car killed her, Billhimer said.
The infant's father, Avraham Chaitovsky, 28, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The investigation remains active and additional charges may follow, Billhimer added.
In another incident, a 5-year-old boy died in Nebraska on July 10 after being found unresponsive inside a vehicle, according to the Omaha Police Department. "At this time, it appears that the child was left unattended inside of a vehicle for an extended period of time," police said in a news release.
The boy's foster mother, Juanita Pinon, 40, has been charged with child abuse by neglect, resulting in death, and was booked into the Douglas County Correctional Center, police said. NBC News reported that the child was left unattended in the vehicle for about seven hours while Pinon was working.
An Arizona man faces second-degree murder and child abuse charges after his 2-year-old daughter was found unresponsive in a hot car on July 9. Court documents obtained by USA TODAY on Tuesday revealed the man was "distracted by playing video games" and "regularly" left all three of his children alone in a car.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, was putting groceries away and playing video games after leaving the toddler in the car for hours outside the family's home in Marana, a town about 100 miles south of Phoenix. The child was later found "still strapped in her child restraint system" and was then pronounced deceased at a hospital.
Heat wave death counts?Don't trust them. The true toll is higher.
The deaths came amid an unrelenting heat wave in recent weeks that has baked many parts of the country. The heat wave has set dozens of records, including breaking all-time heat records in the first five days of July in more than 50 cities in California and Nevada, AccuWeather said.
On Wednesday, more than 106 million people from the West Coast to the East Coast were under heat alerts, according to heat.gov.
While authorities and experts have noted that heat-related deaths and illnesses are preventable, heat-related deaths have increased in the U.S. each year. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were about 1,602 heat-related deaths in 2021; 1,722 in 2022; and 2,302 in 2023.
Experts and advocate groups encourage caregivers and parents to follow precautions and safety advisories to prevent a tragic heat accident:
"It’s important for everyone to understand that children are more vulnerable to heatstroke and that all hot car deaths are preventable," according to heat.gov.
Contributing: Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY; Ken Serrano, Asbury Park Press; Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald-Record
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