ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County first responders and veterinarians are sounding the alarm when it comes to leaving children or pets in hot cars.
Orange County Fire Rescue officials say they’ve responded to up to 15 incidents in the last few months.
Their message to the public is to avoid it all together. Don’t leave children or pets in a car unattended for any reason, for any length of time, ever.
Orange County Animal Services, along with Orange County Fire Rescue, hosted a demonstration sharing how they check the temperature inside vehicles and how to act if you ever came upon a vehicle and you saw a child or pet left. They had a truck parked outside under overcast skies for an hour.
“We’re already up to 121 degrees,” said Rick Hunyadi, the Orange County Animal Services training program coordinator.
Things can heat up fast. But the dangers can start as temperatures inside can climb 20 degrees in a matter of minutes - and if left inside, it puts your child at risk.
“Children’s body temperature can go up three to five times faster than an adult,” said Lt. Kimberly Engeman.
Engeman said after a few minutes in a hot car, children can suffer from a heat stroke or heat exhaustion. She said Orange County Fire Rescue has pulled 70 children from hot vehicles in the past year.
“If they’re in a car seat, there’s nothing they can do to get them out of that situation,” said Engeman.
Just last month, Channel 9 reported on an 18-month-old who died after Volusia County deputies say his father, Scott Gardner, left him in a truck while going to get a haircut then to a bar in Ormond Beach.
It’s not just kids first responders are worried about, but pets too.
“The same way we can go outside, and we can just have a heat stroke by being outside, the same thing can happen to a pet,” said Orange County Animal Services veterinarian Carmen-Susan Glotfelty-Ortiz.
If you see a child or pet unattended, you can break a window to rescue them. Hunyadi showed how to use a window punch that you can purchase at Walmart.
“You can buy these at Walmart. They’re a couple of dollars. They’re basically a window punch. They work kind of like an EpiPen does if you press it against something. There’s a little spring release in it and it should shatter the window,” said Hunyadi.
A screwdriver or other heavy object will also work. Hunyadi says you want to hit in a corner of the window. Never bust the windshield, and obviously check first to see if any door is unlocked.
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