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Persons Responsible for
Heatstroke Deaths of Children
Jan Null, CCM
San Jose State university

 

In the period of 1998 through 2016, a total of 700 infants and children died of heatstroke inside hot motor vehicles.   Just over half (376, 54%) of these were accidently forgotten by a parent or other caregiver, 28% (198) gained access to a vehicle on their own and 17% (120) died after being left intentionally inside a vehicle. A breakdown within each of these categories is below.

 

Circumstances
Forgotten 54%
Gained Access 28%
Intentionally Left 17%
Unknown 1%

Forgotten
Mother 28%
Father 33%
Both Parents 11%
Grandmother 4%
Grandfather 3%
Other Relative 5%
Childcare 11%
Other 6%
Gained Access
Mother 44%
Father 13%
Both Parents 19%
Grandmother 3%
Grandfather 2%
Other Relative 9%
Childcare 3%
Other 7%
Intentionally Left
Mother 56%
Father 20%
Both Parents 6%
Grandmother 3%
Grandfather 0%
Other Relative 3%
Childcare 8%
Other 4%

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Questions, comments or suggestions.  Email jan.null@sjsu.edu
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