21 February 2019

Child left in parked vehicle for six hours at Yass

| Ian Campbell
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A small child has been treated in Yass District Hospital after reportedly being left on a childcare centres bus.

Police were called to a local childcare centre just after 3 pm yesterday (February 20), after the child was found inside the parked vehicle.

It’s alleged the two-year-old boy had been left in the vehicle unattended for approximately six hours.

He was treated for dehydration and taken to hospital as a precaution.

The outside temperature at the time the boy was found was around 26 degrees. Yass today is headed for a partly cloudy 32.

Fairfax Media is reporting the Yass Little Learners Centre has suspended the bus driver following the incident.

Kidsafe NSW says, “On a typical Australian summer day, the temperature inside a parked car can be as much as 30 to 40 degrees hotter than the outside temperature.”

“Imagine even on a day of approximately 20 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car could be up to 60 degrees!

“Children do not tolerate heat as well as adults as their bodies generate more heat relative to their size than adults do. They also lose more fluids because they have a greater proportion of skin surface in relation to their size,” Kidsafe NSW says.

Even with windows down slightly, Kidsafe NSW says the maximum inside car temperature can still reach dangerously high levels very quickly.

“On a typical 30 degree Australian summer day, the temperature inside a parked car can be as high as 70 degrees,” according to KidSafe NSW.

Following yesterday’s incident, officers from the Hume Police District are conducting further inquiries; the matter has also been reported to Family & Community Services.

For passers-by, when it comes to breaking a vehicle’s window to rescue a child or animal inside, the general advice is first contact Triple 0, the NRMA – 13 11 11, or RSPCA – 1300 278 358.

Original Article published by Ian Campbell on About Regional.

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