Children are more susceptible to heatstroke quicker because their body surface area will heat up three to five times faster than an adult.

Salt Lake City, UT (PRUnderground) July 28th, 2026

Never leaving a child in a vehicle – even for a minute. That is the warning Intermountain Children’s Health safety experts are reminding parents as temperatures rise to prevent unintended injury or death.

Several children have tragically died this year already nationwide, and 31 children died last year of heatstroke in vehicles nationwide, according to the National Safety Council. In Utah, 16 children have died in hot vehicles since 1998, with others suffering injuries in close calls. Over 1,100 children have died since 1998 as well.

“One is too many and it can happen to anyone,” said Ashley Castaneda, community health program coordinator at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. “They happen in multitude of ways, such as a child gets away from your attention and finds their way into a car and cannot get out of it. Other times, a parent forgets a child is in the car due to a momentary lapse because of stress, fatigue, or changes in routine. That’s why we urge everyone to always look in the back seat before getting out of the vehicle every time.”

This can be due to fatigue or change of routine – common for families during summer break and vacations – that push a person’s brain into autopilot, making it easier to forget.

In just 10 minutes, the inside of a vehicle can become 20 degrees hotter than it is outside, creating potentially deadly heat for kids. Even in cooler weather, an outside temperature in the mid-60s can cause a car’s interior to exceed 110 degrees over time.
Children are more susceptible to heatstroke quicker because their body surface area will heat up three to five times faster than an adult. A child’s organs will start to shut down if their temperature reaches 104 degrees. Cracking a window has very little effect on the temperature inside the car.

Here are some safety tips to help you prevent hot car tragedies:

• Never leave your child alone in a vehicle – even for a few minutes. A child’s body temperature can increase 3-5 times faster than an adult’s. Cracking a window has a minimal effect on the car’s temperature.

• Always check your vehicle before leaving it.

• Use visual reminders: Place a stuffed animal or diaper bag in the seat next to you.

• Place essential items in the back seat: Put things you’ll need at your destination, like your backpack, purse, or cell phone, in the back seat to ensure you check for the child when reaching for the item.

• Keep your vehicle locked and keys out of reach. About 25% of hot car deaths occur when a child gains access to a vehicle unattended.

• Call the police or 911 immediately if you see a child left alone in a car.

Castaneda also warned about the dangers of home windows this time of year as people are opening them to allow more air to circulate to cool their houses. Never open your windows by more than four inches to keep kids safe from accidental window falls.

Each year in the United States, between 15 and 20 children under the age of 11 die, and nearly 15,000 are injured, because of falls from windows. One in every four children injured in a window fall require hospitalization.

“A young child easily can push out a window screen with their hand,” said Castaneda. “If you think that the window is safe because it is on the first floor, please know that a 10 foot can still cause serious injuries.”

Here are some ways to prevent window falls:

• Keep your windows closed and locked when children are around. If you do open a window for ventilation, open ones that are out of the reach of children.

• Never depend on screens to keep children from falling out of windows. Screens are not designed to prevent falls.

• Keep furniture, or anything a child can climb, away from windows.

• Set and enforce rules about keeping children’s play away from windows.

• Most window falls occur when children are left alone. There is no substitute for supervision.

To request a free “Spot the Tot, Forget Me Not” window cling to help you remember there’s a child in the vehicle, as well as window clings for inside the house to remind of potential window falls, email pchchildsafety@imail.org. They come in English and Spanish language versions.

For more information, visit Intermountainhealth.org/childsafety.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a nonprofit health plan called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://news.intermountainhealth.org/. For more information, see intermountainhealth.org/ or call 801-442-2000.

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Original Press Release.