Another Heat Stroke Death- Tampa Florida

A young girl , just 14 months old, was found dead in the family car after succumbing to excessive heat exposure. She died from heat stroke, a death brought on by being left in a car for an entire day. The outside temperature on this day was in the 90 degree range. However, death from heat stroke has been documented in children when the outside air temperature hovers at as little as 65 degrees!

How horrible is it to find a child abandoned in the family car? According to News 8: "Other 911 calls from neighbors and family members screaming at the scene when they realized the one-year-old girl was left in the car for hours." The death scene is tragic beyond words- police officers, and rescue personnel, familiar with death scenes, are often found weeping, and consoling one another as they try to understand the magnitude of the loss- to the parents, to the community.

This year has been a tragic one because of the total number of deaths brought on by driver negligence. Last year, with the record high temperatures, 53 children died from heat stroke. Leaving a total of about 836 child deaths since 1998. I consider this an unnecessary EPIDEMIC. These deaths are all avoidable