child safety

[amoLucia]

Watching TV and they're talking about another little one having died after being forgotten in a hot locked car. Sixteen deaths so far this year - even one is too much!

Any suggestions to pass on to help prevent this tragedy. I was thinking there's GOT to be something out there to help.

Auto makers have installed all kinds of bells & whistles for luxury things in cars - why can't they come up with some kind of alarm or some electronic chip on the baby seat that connects to baby seat and the dash or driver's seatbelt. A mini baby cam?

Boy, if some engineer or even some really bright inventor could come up with something and patent it, what a blessing for preventing such a tragic accident.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

About the weeks ago, I was driving to work. I was mentally "getting into the groove." As a new nurse, I was trying to prepare myself for what I was going to do to give my patients the very best care I could. When I pictured myself pulling into the parking lot and getting out of the car to walk in and start my day, I felt my face go white. My quiet little sleeping man was still nestled in the backseat, and I had passed the daycare about a quarter mile back.

After choking back the bile rising in my throat, I turned around, dropped my precious guy safely at school, and went to my job for the day.

What if I hadn't remembered? It still freaks me out to think about it. Sure, sometimes it is that people need to be more responsible or "set the damn phone down" ... but not always. Sometimes it's just a simple mistake that also happens to be the very worst mistake of someone's life. And they have to live with themselves.

As someone else already said, maybe we could be a little less judgmental.

I am usually very cognizant about these things. I have to admit when children are involved I tend to have a clouded perspective.

Thank you for the reminder to be tolerant and understanding.

My favorite saying is...There but for the grace of God go I.

But people do need to put the phones down.

[AmyRN303, BSN, RN]

People do need to put the phones down, definitely. Not always the cause, but in general, in life, (and I can speak for myself) sometimes we are too glued to it to see what is going on around us.

Now, maybe ten years ago, before we had cell phones, I remember visiting friends in MA and going to church with them on a Sunday. Two vans, four parents, six kids between us, and we parked and started getting kids out of the car. My girlfriend was teaching a class at the time and had walked in ahead, and her husband was getting the kids out of the car. We had parked next to them so he and my husband and I were talking as all the kids climbed out of the cars. Distracted, definitely, by our chattiness. Kids were all out, walked in to drop them off in their respective classrooms, and it wasn't until we met up with my friend before her class (likely ten minutes after we had parked) that her husband realized we were short one child. Their three year old had fallen asleep in his car seat in the back, and she thought dad had him, and he just had been distracted by all the short brown haired boys I had who so resembled their son. Of course he raced up to the car to get him, and there he was, still snoozing, blissfully unaware of our panic. I don't think we went anywhere after that where we didn't do a little head count before walking away from the cars.

My kids are now all over age 8 and I still do the "one, two, three four" whenever we're out in public.

[englishgeek]

I am usually very cognizant about these things. I have to admit when children are involved I tend to have a clouded perspective.

Thank you for the reminder to be tolerant and understanding.

My favorite saying is...There but for the grace of God go I.

But people do need to put the phones down.

Yes they do!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I have head counted since I can remember. I counted my nieces. I count heads of classroom trips. I counted brownies, girl scouts, boy scouts, classrooms.....I guess I have more OCD than I thought. I dressed my kids in matching bright colors so I could always find them. They had light up sneakers so I could see them. I used child safety harnesses before they were available for purchase(yes they were little dog leashes)...the comments about treating my kids like a dog were hysterical. I had 2 11 months apart. I guess a lifetime of seeing horrible things in the ED left an imprint on my soul for when I had kids, 20 years into my career, I was obsessed with their safety.

Right now I am lecturing them about Six Flags and safety on rides, the water park, money and the every day jerks that roam the earth...it is their first trip alone driving that far . Thank goodness they humor me...smile and nod their heads....dutifully repeat what I said and promise to be safe....and put their phones down.

I just can't imagine ever forgetting them anywhere.

[RNperdiem, RN]

I think there is the power of habit. What if the dad involved usually didn't have a child in the car and went about his ordinary day out of habit?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Glad I'm not the only one to do this! A few yrs ago, my husband and I took our 3 oldest and 3 neices/nephew to Sea World for the day while his mom and sister watched the baby. It felt like I was doing a perpetual head count! I'm pretty vigilant when out and about anyway, but the responsibility of 3 kids that weren't mine...I think the only times I really stopped counting our group was when we sat down for shows and meals.

I have head counted since I can remember. I counted my nieces. I count heads of classroom trips. I counted brownies, girl scouts, boy scouts, classrooms.....I guess I have more OCD than I thought. I dressed my kids in matching bright colors so I could always find them. They had light up sneakers so I could see them.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

I always put my purse in the back seat, whether my son is in the car or not.

As for the remark about "better parents"... Keep in mind this is something that happens to children of parents from many different socioeconomic, educational and professional backgrounds. While I'm sure there are a great number of cases where the parent/caretaker was truly negligent, there have been many instances where it was an accident. A devastating one, to be sure, and one that shouldn't be accompanied by excuses, but let's try not to be so quick to judge. Nursing is a compassionate profession, no?

Purse/wallet/cigarettes in the back seat are all great ideas. Taking one of the kid's shoes off and put in beside you in the front seat is another. Persoannly I don't call these incidents "accidents" I call them manslaughter.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

I leave my purse in the car too often. If I was taking a kid somewhere, I think I'd stick my shoes underneath the car seat. I think stepping barefoot onto hot pavement would be a good reminder.

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

I have to agree with all the comments.. It kills me to think that parents are "accidentally" locking their baby / child in a hot car. Why not put the baby's diaper bag in the front seat? I don't have children, but whenever I drive somewhere and have to bring something with me that I need to take when I exit my car (bag / my lunch / briefcase), I put it next to me in the front passenger's seat, so that's the first thing I grab when I get out of the car. If the baby's diaper bag is sitting in the front passenger's seat next to the mom / dad, maybe that would remind them, "hey, I brought baby with me today!" Maybe I'm missing something since I don't have children, but it's just a thought..

I do this. The diaper bag is in the passenger seat usually with my phone/iPad on top or next to it.

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

About the weeks ago, I was driving to work. I was mentally "getting into the groove." As a new nurse, I was trying to prepare myself for what I was going to do to give my patients the very best care I could. When I pictured myself pulling into the parking lot and getting out of the car to walk in and start my day, I felt my face go white. My quiet little sleeping man was still nestled in the backseat, and I had passed the daycare about a quarter mile back.

After choking back the bile rising in my throat, I turned around, dropped my precious guy safely at school, and went to my job for the day.

What if I hadn't remembered? It still freaks me out to think about it. Sure, sometimes it is that people need to be more responsible or "set the damn phone down" ... but not always. Sometimes it's just a simple mistake that also happens to be the very worst mistake of someone's life. And they have to live with themselves.

As someone else already said, maybe we could be a little less judgemental.

On one of my first outings as a new mom as I was loading the car up with all the goodies we had gotten at target I must have gotten distracted or even fell asleep for a split second because I realized once I had gotten home and was taking the baby out of the car that I had not buckled the car seat straps. I was very thankful that we did not get into an accident that day and the thought of it has haunted me since. Now I a tear later I am a little neurotic about checking the buckles.

[trishmsn]

The Washington Post ran a Pullitzer prize-winning article on this titled "Fatal Distraction", and it is worth a read for anyone concerned about this subject.

As mentioned, parents are from across the educational and socioeconomic scales, and most are devoted parents who changed their routine and/or were swamped and multitasking. This became a problem in the early 1990's when cars started having passenger side air bags, and child seats were recommended to be in the back center (and, of course, rear-facing for small babies). I really think this could happen to anyone of us.

Personal experience....I was picking my six month old son from the sitter, and getting him strapped in and the seat tethered (this was the early 1980's, and car seats were HUGE and heavy and expensive, so the seat stayed with the baby for the sitter to use, or for when Daddy picked him up). The baby was snug as a bug and safe....but I drove off with the diaper bag, containing my wallet on the roof!! Thank GOD it wasn't the other way around.

[Jayjormom]

I read an article recently about about a mother and father who left their 6mth old baby in a car for over an hour while they went into the store to shop. When the police located them in the store and questioned them, they both seemed 'surprised' that the baby was in the car. They were both to high on god knows what and didn't remember bringing the poor baby to the store with the. Child services got involved and took the baby, her twin, and the other 2 kids they have. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have kids. Maybe they should be 'forgotten' in a scorching hot vehicle for a while.