Highway Traffic Safety Administration kicks off child death prevention program
Apr. 24—ATLANTA — As Georgia weather heats up, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says now is a good time to remind Georgians of the dangers of heatstroke when children are left unattended in vehicles.
The temperature in a parked vehicle rises very quickly, and a child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's — that combination can be deadly. Since 1998, nearly 900 children have died from being left in hot cars nationwide.
Georgia has suffered 35 vehicular heatstroke deaths since 1998. Heatstroke fatalities have occurred all over Georgia, in both rural and urban areas, but the metro Atlanta area has had the highest number of deaths with 15 fatalities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will host a live virtual press conference on Thursday to discuss how to help prevent child deaths and injuries in hot cars. NHTSA Regional Administrator Carmen Hayes will be joined by Allen Poole, the director of the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety; Commissioner Amy Jacobs, Georgia Department of Early Childhood and Learning; Dr. Maneesha Agarwal, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Emergency Medicine Physician and Safe Kids Georgia Board Member; Lisa Dawson, Director, Injury Prevention Program, Division of Health Protection, Georgia Department of Public Health; and Austin Hays, Assistant Fire Marshal, Alpharetta Fire Department to talk about the issue and share prevention tips.
The event also kicks off NHTSA's national "Where's Baby? Look Before You Lock" paid media campaign and National Heatstroke Prevention Awareness Day on May 1.
