Texas Heatstroke Task Force Update July 2, 2019

1. Three child hot-car deaths in 3 days in Texas

Three child vehicular heatstroke deaths occurred in Texas in three days (June 20-22) during June 2019. These were the first known child hot-car deaths in Texas this year.

 

In the U. S., there have been at least 17 child vehicular heatstroke deaths, including the above-mentioned three in Texas, from January through June 2019. Below are links to news stories regarding each of the 8 child vehicular heatstroke deaths known to have taken place in the U. S. during June 2019:

1. June 2, 2019: Calverton Park, Missouri; Girl, 11 months
2. June 8, 2019: Butler County, Kansas; Girl, 3 months
3. June 20, 2019: Providence Village, Texas: Boy, 4 years
4. June 21, 2019: Bardwell, Texas: Girl, 11 months
5. June 22, 2019: Galveston, Texas: Boy, 18 months
6. June 27, 2019: Morristown, Tennessee: Boy, 3 years
7. June 28, 2019: Dothan, Alabama: Boy, 2 years
8. June 30, 2019: Sioux City, Iowa: Girl, 16 months

Child Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths, U. S. and Texas

Year	United States	Texas
Jan. — June 2019	17	3
2018	52	5
2017	43	7
2016	39	7
2015	24	5
2014	31	4
2013	41	5
2012	34	5
2011	33	9
2010	49	13

Data source: Noheatstroke.org

 

2. July 31 is National Heatstroke Prevention Day

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began conducting a heatstroke prevention campaign on May 27. National Heatstroke Prevention Day is July 31. Mark your calendars and help spread the word about the heatstroke prevention Tweet-up planned for that day (7am-7pm ET).  Follow @NHTSAgov.

Free NHTSA Heatstroke Prevention Toolkit.

 

3. Day of the week distribution of child vehicular heatstroke deaths by circumstance

Among the useful information in the noheatstroke.org website is a document, Trends, and Patterns in Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths, 1998–2018 by Jan Null, Dept. of Meteorology and Climate Science, San Jose State University. It contains many charts and graphs regarding child vehicular heatstroke deaths in the U. S. that can be helpful in understanding the problem better.

 

For example, The following snippet shows a day of the week distribution of child vehicular deaths by circumstance.

• For children forgotten in vehicles, Thursday and Friday are the days with the highest number of occurrences.
• For children who gain access to vehicles, Saturdays and Sundays have the highest number of occurrences.
• For children knowingly left in vehicles, the distribution among days of the week is fairly even, with the lowest number of occurrences on Sunday.

4. Resources

Noheatstroke.org. Comprehensive website with current and historical statistics, in-depth analytics, and resources.

National Safety Council online training module: Children in Hot Cars, which is available on the NSC heatstroke webpage.

Safe Kids Worldwide. Downloadable toolkits and other materials.

 

Kids and Cars. Parent advocate stories, child vehicular heatstroke information, and child safety in and around cars.

 

Child Safety In and Around Vehicles from NHTSA.

 

Badge of Courage nomination.  Nominate someone who called 911 to report an unattended child in a car.

 

5. Send in your heatstroke prevention activities

Attached is our 2019 Activity Log with activities reported through June. Navigate months via tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

 

The Texas Heatstroke Task Force (THTF) is growing. We are now a network of 400 THTF members spread throughout all 25 TxDOT districts in Texas. If you know of someone who would like to join us, ask them to send an email to humphreys.johnny@gmail with their name, city, and organization. List Join the Texas Heatstroke Task Force subject line.