Volusia sheriff: 2-year-old Orange City girl dies after being left in hot car
A 2-year-old girl from Orange City died after she was left in the family's hot car Thursday, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. The family discovered her still strapped to her car seat where she had been for approximately three hours, according to a report.
The family, which included the girl and her brothers, told detectives that they had returned to their Highland Drive home about 2:40 p.m. after having lunch in DeLand, according to the press release. Besides the daughter, the couple has three other children, 8, 13, and 14 years old, according to the incident report.
The girl's parents found her unresponsive at about 5 p.m. still inside the car and drove her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead just before 6 p.m., the sheriff's office stated.
The high temperature in Orange City on Thursday was nearly 90 degrees, according to one weather website.
A nurse at the hospital told deputies that the parents ran into the emergency room holding the child and saying she was unresponsive, according to an incident report.
The nurse said the parents told her they forgot the child inside the vehicle and she had remained inside for hours.
The parents told deputies that they had returned home after eating out. The parents said after about three hours they left the house to drive to a park to release a rabbit they had been rehabilitating, the incident report stated.
Once they got in the vehicle they realized the girl was still inside strapped to her car seat, the report stated. She was unresponsive.
What we know: 7 children have died in hot cars so far this year, 3 in Florida
The Sheriff's Office Major Case Unit is investigating.
The names of the parents were redacted in the report.
In a 911 call, a woman cries and yells and said she was taking her daughter to the hospital.
A 911 call taker asked what happened.
"We forgot that our daughter was in the car," the woman said.
The 911 operator tells her she needs her to pull over.
"No. I've got to go to the ... get to the hospital right now," the woman replied.
The operator asked again for her to pull over so she can give her CPR instructions.
The operator then asked whether the child was awake and breathing.
The woman said no.
The girl was driven to the hospital in a blue Chevrolet pickup, which was secured by deputies.
Orange City girl would be country's 8th hot car death
Not including the Orange City girl, whose death remains under investigation, seven children have died so far this year in the United States after being left in locked cars where summer temperatures can rise to 130 degrees. Three of the seven deaths occurred in Florida, the most recent being an 11-month-old in Palm Bay on May 28.
The other Florida hot car deaths were a 2-year-old in Prosperity on May 16 and another 2-year-old in Port St. Lucie on March 6, according to Kids and Car Safety.
More than 1,050 children died in hot cars nationwide from 1990 to 2022 according to the nonprofit. From 1990 through 2022 Florida had 111 deaths second only to Texas with 146.
According to News-Journal archive research, the last recorded death of a child in a hot car in the area occurred on Sept. 18, 2015, at Deltona Middle School.
Safety tips to help prevent leaving child in hot car
The National Safety Council offers free training courses for parents and people with children on its website.
The organization provided the following tips to help avoid forgetting a child in a vehicle:
Parents and caregivers should stick to a routine and avoid distractions to reduce the risk of forgetting a child in a car.
Place a purse, briefcase or even a left shoe in the back seat to force you to take one last look before walking away from the car.
Keep car doors locked so children cannot gain access, and teach them that cars are not play areas.
There is no safe amount of time to leave a child in a vehicle, even if you are just running a quick errand.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Orange City girl, 2, dies after being left in hot car, deputies say
