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Another summer and another tragedy with a child in the lead role. A 1,5-year-old boy left in a hot car died in Szczecin. Staying even several minutes in a closed vehicle when it is hot is a direct threat to life. Lives that each of us can save, as long as we respond appropriately. What to do when we see a lonely child in the car? Can we break the glass and are there any legal consequences for it? How to help? These questions are answered by Mateusz Wawryszuk, paramedic, owner of the Aesculapa company, which offers first aid training.
- On a hot day, the temperature inside a locked car reaches 50 degrees C within an hour
- If there is a baby inside, he will have a fever after 30 minutes. After another 30 degrees, his body temperature will exceed 40 degrees C and he will experience heat stroke
- Paramedic: – The photos in which we see a locked child in the car screaming, hitting the glass with his hands and calling for help are fictional. The child will rather look as if it is falling asleep or even asleep – explains Mateusz Wawryszuk
- The expert advises on how to safely and effectively break the car window to get out and save the child in it
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
A child in the car on a hot day – our reaction is the key
Mindlessness, ignorance, distraction, chronic fatigue – there are many reasons why people leave their children in their cars. And although at first glance it is difficult to justify such behavior, it is worth remembering that the scale of the tragedies that occur here is far greater than the legal consequences that the perpetrator suffers from such unintentional death (or damage to health).
That is why it is so important that the place of the investigation initiated into the case and the trauma suffered by the victim’s family is taken up by prophylaxis – preventing the tragedy from occurring at all. The most important thing is to educate adults (parents and also owners of pets, because even dogs are often left in hot cars) how dangerous it is to stay in a closed vehicle when the temperature is high outside, and what consequences this may have for the health and life of living creatures .
However, it is equally important to make the public aware of the importance of reacting to the sight of a lonely child in a car. The atmospheric conditions, although important, are of secondary importance here. Even leaving a child unattended is dangerous as it can cause harm to itself (e.g. choke, injure, etc.). When we add extreme weather conditions (summer and winter), the risk increases drastically – you may experience heat stroke or hypothermia (hypothermia).
The rest of the text below the video.
What should worry us?
Only and until the child is left unattended. The vehicle does not have to be in the sun (it can stand in the shade), and the child does not have to call for help. This is one of the many myths circulating.
– The photos in which we see a child locked in a car screaming, hitting the glass with his hands and calling for help are fictional. A person who suffers a heat stroke is confused, weak and sleepy, loses consciousness, and does not have the strength to call for help. Rather, the baby will appear to be falling asleep or even asleep – explains Mateusz Wawryszuk.
How quickly a child’s body reacts to high temperature is well illustrated by a study by a research team at Arizona State University. Researchers checked how quickly a car in the sun or shade heats up when the air temperature exceeds 30 degrees C, and then made calculations how the body of a young child reacts to specific values.
Research shows that in 37-degree heat, the air temperature in the car reaches about 50 degrees C within an hour (up to 69 degrees C in the vicinity of the dashboard). In such conditions, a two-year-old child after less than 30 minutes he has a fever (38 degrees C), and after an hour his body temperature exceeds 40 degrees C. This is the same as overheating your body and causing heat stroke.
How to react when we see a child in a hot car?
The rule is simple: fast and reliable. We do not think too long about whether and where the guardian is and when he could leave the vehicle. – We look around – maybe the parent is at the parking meter or went to pick up the stroller. We can shout, ask if there is a babysitter in the car nearby. We do not enter the store, if the incident took place in the parking lot, we do not look for security, we do not waste time informing the owner of the place about the situation. We proceed to action, i.e. trying to get into the car – explains Mateusz Wawryszuk.
First, we always check that the door is not open. It’s a cliché, but in such a stressful situation, many people forget it. If they are closed, we proceed to break the glass.
Breaking the glass in someone else’s vehicle raises a lot of controversy. Many people are afraid of possible legal consequences, especially when it turns out that the child is safe and sound. However, it is worth remembering that the law is on our side in this case.
– We can sacrifice a good of a lower order than a good of a higher order, i.e. – in this situation – to break the car window when there is a child or other living creature, e.g. a dog. This is called a state of greater necessity referred to in Art. 26 of the Criminal Code – indicates a paramedic. – Of course, it may happen that the parking air conditioning, popular in newer car models, is turned on in the car. However, we don’t need to know about it. An indication to break the car window is when a child is left alone – he reminds.
How to effectively and safely break a car window?
– First, we choose the glass to be broken. Which? Side, located as far as possible from the victim. If the child is in a car seat behind the driver’s seat, the front passenger’s windshield, in front of the vehicle, is best.
We are looking for a large, heavy and hard object to break the glass. A hammer for breaking windows is ideal, such as is found in every means of public transport. There are special keychains with mini-breakers for windows, useful also during traffic accidents, when we have to get out of the car on our own. If we do not have such a tool – we improvise. A fire extinguisher will be good – your own or borrowed from another witness to the event, but also a key, a large stone or other object that can be found nearby.
We always hit the corner of the glass, not the very center, because the glass is resilient – the object will bounce off it and hurt us or another person. It is also worth securing your own hand with a T-shirt or towel, tilt your head so that glass shards do not hit your head or eyes. We take care of our own safety.
You can see how to safely and efficiently break a car window in the following video:
Once we get to the victim, we check his condition. If it overheats, we evacuate it to a cool place and proceed as with heatstroke. If the child is unconscious but is breathing, we put it in a safe position and wait for the ambulance. If he is not breathing, we start CPR and continue it until medical help arrives.
Mateusz Wawryszuk is a medical and water rescuer. He works in the ambulance service and deals with education in the field of first aid. He is the owner of the Aesculapa company that organizes first aid training, breaking the stereotype that first aid is boring and difficult.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time, we asked Orina Krajewska what, according to her, a holistic approach to health is. How to combine the three aspects – body, spirit and mind to enjoy balance and good health? You will hear about this and many other aspects of the topic in the latest episode of our podcast.