By Samantha Walker
Children in Whittlesea and Hume have been left to swelter in hot cars, despite warnings to parents about the dangers and the threat of large fines.
In Whittlesea, Ambulance Victoria was called out 80 times to rescue people locked in cars in the 12 months to August 31, 2015.
There were 59 such cases in Hume.
Statewide, about 95 per cent of the incidents involved children under 13, with paramedics called out to rescue 1531 people from cars during this reporting period.
In December alone, there were 225 ambulance callouts to children left in cars – up from 161 the year before.
Ambulance Victoria reported that crews were called to as many as 13 cases a day of children locked in cars.
Last Tuesday, as temperatures soared to 42 degrees, paramedics responded to eight reports of children trapped in hot cars.
With more hot weather on the way, the state government has embarked on a fresh campaign warning parents and drivers of the dangers.
Acting Premier James Merlino urged the community to take the issue seriously.
“We continue to face hot conditions this summer. There are no excuses for leaving kids in cars,” Mr Merlino said.
Ambulance Victoria’s emergency management director, Paul Holman, said some of the cases were accidental, but others involved parents making a “deliberate decision” to leave children in cars.
“Given how much education there is about the dangers of leaving children in cars, it’s disappointing that some people still decide to take that risk,” Mr Holman said.
He said Ambulance Victoria had conducted tests that showed the inside temperature of a car could reach 44 degrees within 10 minutes on a 29-degree day. This escalates to 60 degrees within 20 minutes.
In hot conditions, the body temperature of young children can rise three to five times faster than that of adults, leaving them at greater risk of life-threatening heatstroke, dehydration and organ damage.
“Tragically, we’ve seen three children die in recent years after being left in a car on a hot day,” Mr Holman said.
In Victoria, parents or carers who leave children unattended in a car face fines of up to $3700 or up to six months in jail.
Families and Children Minister Jenny Mikakos said children shouldn’t be left in cars, not even “for just a moment”.
“No exceptions, no excuses,” Ms Mikakos said.
