HCSO Unveils New Initiative To Stop Vehicular Heat Stroke In Children And Pets

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, along with several public and private partners, on Tuesday unveiled a new community safety initiative, “Look Before You Lock” focused on eliminating unnecessary child and pet deaths due to vehicular heat stroke.
 
The kickoff event took place at the Hixson Walmart located on Highway 153. Tuesday’s event featured a marked patrol unit with an outside and inside thermometer comparing the difference in temperature to shoppers coming in and out of Walmart. The patrol unit will be on static display each day this week at various Walmarts in Hamilton County. Parents who wish to see the display can view the unit at the following locations: Wednesday – Hamilton Place Walmart, Thursday – Signal Mountain Walmart, and Friday – Soddy Daisy Walmart. The patrol unit will be on display during the day.
 
Vehicular Heat Stroke is a significant and deadly problem facing our nation. Every day, parents and care-givers are finding themselves more and more distracted whether it be from outside factors, in-car gadgets, stress, or cell phones. Statistically, child deaths due to vehicluar heat stroke are at an all time low since 1998, but despite the fact that numers are lower, there have been 683 vehicular heatstroke related deaths since 1998 in the United States. On average, there are (37) deaths per year.
 
Each of these deaths were uncessassary and 100% preventable.
 
In 10 minutes, a car's temperature can rise over 20 degrees with 80% of total heat rise accumulating in the first 30 minutes. During the hottest summer months, maxium temperatures can easily reach 130 degrees.
 
Even in the cooler months, interior temperatures can be 50 degrees higher than the outside. For an example, even with an outside temperature of 60 degrees, the temperature inside your car can still reach 110 degrees given the right conditions.
 
Ulitmately, a child dies when his/her body temperature reaches 107 degrees.
 
During the kickoff event, Sheriff Hammond was joined by HCEMS Director Ken Wilkerson, Erlanger Children’s Emergency Department Director, Dr. Darwin Koller, Walmart Market Manager for Southeast Tennessee, Jeff Eversole, Chattanooga - Hamilton County Health Department Highway Safety Coordinator, Monica Baker, and McKamey Community Outreach Officer, Jennifer Heinzel, to discuss ways to prevent vehicular heat stroke and how it can affect children and pets.
 
The HCSO handed out bright yellow, removable, door decals that parents and caregivers can place on their driver-side windows to serve as reminders to check their back seat as they exit the vehicle. Parents who are interested in receiving a free decal my visit either the HCSO West Annex located at 6233 Dayton Boulevard or at the HCSO East Annex located at 8395 East Brainerd Road. Parents or caregivers may also receive a decal by visiting one of our weekly scheduled Safe Journey Car Seat Checks. More information can be found at www.hcsheriff.gov.
 
For more information about the HCSO – Look Before You Lock Program or to find out how one's business or organization can participate, please contact the HCSO Public Information Office at 423-209-8906.
 
For more information on how you can prevent vehicular heat stroke, visit:
 
http://noheatstroke.org/fact_sheet.pdf (English)
 
http://noheatstroke.org/ninovehiculo.pdf (Spanish)