Don't leave kids in hot cars

Officers working out of the York Regional Police Child Abuse Unit have laid charges against a 29-yearold Shelburne woman after she left her two-year-old child unattended in her vehicle in the stifling heat recently in Newmarket.

Police said they received a report July 13 of a child left unattended in a locked vehicle that was not running, in temperatures upwards of 30 degrees Celsius. Upon arrival, officers found that the child had been removed from the vehicle and located nearby with his mother and sibling. After speaking to witnesses and conducting an investigation, officers discovered that the child had been left in the vehicle with the windows rolled down slightly while his mother attended a nearby business with his sibling. Passers by became concerned about the child's condition and forced the window down to unlock the door and remove the child.

York Region Emergency Medical Services attended and transported the child to hospital where he was treated and released.

The woman was charged with child abandonment and failing to provide the necessities of life.

Police are reminding drivers to never leave children alone in a car, especially during the hot summer weather.

According to the Canada Safety Council, temperatures in the confined space of a car can climb so rapidly a child cannot regulate his or her internal temperature and can go into shock very quickly, limiting circulation to vital organs.

Extreme heat affects children much more quickly than adults - up to five times faster. Heatstroke or hyperthermia occurs when the body's core temperature reaches 40 degrees. A study conducted at McMaster University found that on a day where the outside temperature is 35 degrees Celsius, the temperature inside a car rose to 50 degrees within 20 minutes and to 65 degrees within 40 minutes.

Residents are urged to call Police at 1-866-8765423 if they see children left unattended in a car this summer.