As I came out of Circuit City yesterday afternoon, there were cops, fire dept and paramedics all over the place. An officer came up asking if I owned a Ford sedan, I told him no, and showed him the truck I drive. Looking towards a fast-food place, I saw emergency people holding and examining a toddler no more than 1 1/2 years old. You could tell the child was in severe distress, the paramedics were cracking and applying cold packs to get her temp down. She looked alert, and responding.
Yep, another stupid adult leaving a child in a locked car in the middle of the afternoon. The temp outside was 100. This is the first time I've ever witnessed this, and became physically ill. I became so angry, it took me a while to calm down.
It reminds me when I was doing my clinical for my EMT in an emergency room years ago. The mother came in with a baby who was bruised and having trouble breathing. The cops came, and the mother admitted her boyfriend did it. Soon after, the boyfriend came in demanding to see the child. I started after him, and the cops had to restrain me, and get the guy out fast. The cops understood my feelings, but had to keep me down to protect me. I did get some satisfaction when I saw the cops trying to help the guy in the car, and just couldn't seem to get his head down far enough and kept hitting his head trying to get in. :chuckle
I saw it happen in the parking lot at K-Mart. I parked next to a minivan with two children both under the age of 2 in car seats in the back seat crying and it was very hot outside and the kids were sweating profusely. I called the police. The mother came out and asked me why I was standing there. I told here what she had done was child abuse. She said the van is running and the AC is on. I said you've got the keys in your hand and the van is not running. About that time the police showed up and I left.
bravo to you, binkie!
even if the mom had van running/ac on, obviously she's not worried about kidnapping?
i'm telling you, i think parenting should require a license, w/the strictest of regs.
Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.
I've always thought that those idiots who leave kids in a hot vehicle should get a dose of their own medicine.......give them 30 minutes in a car with the windows rolled up and the engine off.
I know of at least one case around here where it wasn't ignorance or laziness that caused this...it was plain ol' human forgetfulness.
I know, I know....how can you forget your child is in the backseat of a car? If you have a quiet child, like mine was, I could easily see it happening. It was the parent (in this case a father) who was not usually the one who took the baby to daycare who got in the car and went to work - forgetting the baby was in the back seat. 8 hours later he comes back and baby is dead.
Doesn't change the outcome, but this father was not lazy nor ignorant.
Just human. So sad.
I have to second this, at times it is not laziness or ignorance. There was a case like this around where I lived as well. The father was busy and apparently the mother put the baby in the car for him to drop off somewhere.. apparently the mother told him, but the man did not hear her (weve all not "heard" something we had to do before).. anyways, he went off to work not realizing the child was in the car and you know the end of the story. Very tragic for everyone. I feel we cannot judge these type of situations... that father is probably condemning himself more than anyone else ever could.
However... I know most other circumstances do involve pure idiots.. for lack of a better term.
There is no excuse for that kind of stupidity or abuse. If people want to be parents, they need to get rid of all their damn laziness that says you can leave a kid in the car while you "run errands" because it's "easier" to do it without the child. Yeah, right.
A friend of mine was a Sgt with the State Police where I came from (cold New England state), and he responded to a call of a deceased child one time. Mom left a 3yo child in a running car in the winter because the child had fallen asleep in the car seat. She thought it would be okay since it was cold out and she left the heater running full blast. The child died from over-heating. Very tragic and sad, but once again, why not bring the child in to sleep in bed??
8 yrs. ago my son was left inside a hot car for about 1 hour by a relative- it was in the middle of summer in a tropical country. It was a miracle the window on his side was 1/2 inch open. I'm traumatized by that incident and still feel heavy on my chest whenever I remember it!
I honestly don't understand how someone could forget or not know that their child is in the car! I'm not a mom yet, but I've taken care of many babies and toddlers, and when driving them somewhere, I would always turn around and check on them whenever I was stopped at a red light.
I also don't understand when parents put their small infants to bed with blankets, pillows, toys, etc..... ever heard of SIDS??? :angryfire
I once worked with a woman who probably had adult ADD and was so easily distracted, I honestly believe she could have genuinely forgotten her child(ren) in the car and hope that she was never left alone with her children until they could look after themselves.
She was a very nice woman and highly intelligent, but she did not finish ANYTHING.
Otherwise, I believe that most of these cases are deliberate (they're sick of the baby crying all the time, or the spouse is jealous of it, or whatever) and this is a way to get rid of an unwanted child without people asking too many questions.......as long as you're middle class and white or Asian. If you're black or Hispanic, forget it, you're going to jail for life.
Unfortnately people are sometimes too tired, too distracted and something truly awful like this happens. There was just such a fatality where we live about a year ago- the mother went to work, the father usually took the baby to day care for what ever reason she was suppose to that day- she got to work parked her car forgot the baby in the car seat. Someone passing by saw the baby later-it was too late. This woman was a pediatrican! But working probably lots of hours, I think she was a resident at Washington University in St.Louis, and raising a young infant. The names of the parents were never released and charges were not pressed-what ever punishment they would've received, probably couldn't compare to what that woman already was going through
William Carter, an IMPD officer who was working security at the mall, told police that he was patrolling the parking lot when he saw the boy had slipped out of a car seat and had a seat belt under his neck, possibly constricting his breathing.
And the real kicker to this story:
Police said Martin told them that she didn't know it was against the law to leave a small child alone in a vehicle.
These people disgust me. What kind of life are these children going to have when their parents think it's ok to leave them alone while they go shoe shopping, deal drugs, etc? In 20 years, where are these kids going to be, unless someone steps up and advocates and mentors these kids?
I'm disgusted. These poor kids don't have a chance unless someone steps up (and odds are it's not going to be the parents) and guides them down the right path. I just want to take these kids home with me, hug them, love them and show them that there are people who care.
Even if your kid is quiet, how could you possibly go 8 hours without thinking about that child? Is there not a thought about that child at all during your day? There is no way. I know, I 've heard of it, but I have a real hard time understanding that. When my kids aren't with me, I think about them frequently.
It's so sad that we hear about this happening again and again.
Sad to say, here in Florida this happens all the time. Judging by the news stories, and this is my own observation, the people who do these types of things tend to be low income, uneducated and have had some type of previous run in with the law.
For me, this is just one of those areas where Charles Darwin would be taking copious notes.
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
bravo to you, binkie!
even if the mom had van running/ac on, obviously she's not worried about kidnapping?
i'm telling you, i think parenting should require a license, w/the strictest of regs.
leslie