YORK COUNTY, Pa. — An autopsy revealed the death of a 4-year-old child was likely heat-related after the child was found unresponsive inside a vehicle.
The child was discovered after investigators said the 4-year-old went missing along the 400 block of Blossom Drive in East Manchester Township.
Upon arrival, the coroner discovered that a four-year-old child had been found in a family member's closed, parked vehicle after the family noticed he was missing from the home.
The child was unresponsive and deceased when he was located.
"Where the temperatures may be 70 or 80 degrees outside, it can be upward of 100 to 100 plus degrees in a vehicle that's closed up," said Jason Mosebach, supervisor for York Regional EMS.
Mosebach said the recent heat and humidity have caused an uptick in calls for 'breathing problems.' He noted that heat can take over people quickly and that they should work indoors and stay hydrated on hot days.
"The first and foremost thing is if we get a response for a heat exposure, get the person out of the heated environment, try to get them into the shade. Try to get them into a cool place and passively try to cool that patient down," he said.
According to Kids and Car Safety, this is the 17th child vehicular heatstroke death in 2021. Pennsylvania is also ranked 26th in the nation based on the number of hot car deaths, also according to the nonprofit.
"People know about hot car tragedies. We hear about them every year. Yet, people still believe this would never happen to them," said Amber Rollins of Kids and Car Safety.
Rollins told FOX43 children can many times enter a vehicle on their own but become trapped inside because they can't pull a door handle towards them and push outward at the same time.
"This year we reached a very terrible milestone with hot car deaths over 1,000 children have died since since 1990 in hot cars," said Rollins.
Kids and Car Safety released a statement that said in part, "The Hot Cars Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the INVEST in America Act on July 1st, 2021. This bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring all new passenger motor vehicles to be equipped with a child safety alert system that would detect the presence of a child who is unable to exit a vehicle or has entered an unattended vehicle independently and engage a warning. We need this detection technology added to vehicles to help put an end to these predictable and preventable tragedies."
They advise everyone to:
- Keep vehicles locked at all times, especially in the garage or driveway. Ask neighbors and visitors to do the same.
- Never leave car keys within reach of children.
- Use childproofing knob covers and door alarms to prevent children from exiting your home unnoticed.
- Teach children to honk the horn or turn on hazard lights if they become trapped inside a car.
- If a child is missing, immediately check the inside, floorboards and trunk of all vehicles in the area carefully, even if they’re locked.