With consistent hot temperatures and high humidity, Okotoks authorities are reminding residents not to leave children or pets in their parked vehicles unattended.
A string of days with heat warnings has prompted Okotoks Municipal Enforcement manager Peter Stapley to reach out to the community with a cautionary message.
“The temperature in a car rises rapidly,” he said. “It’s very dangerous.”
On a 21-degree day he said a parked car will rise to 32 Celsius on the inside within 10 minutes and up to 40 degrees within 30 minutes. During hotter days around 29 or 30 degrees, the interior of a parked vehicle can climb to 40 degrees within 10 minutes and 48 degrees after half an hour, he said.
Dogs and small children are especially susceptible to those temperatures as they cannot manage their body temperatures as well as adults.
“For dogs specifically, they don’t have the ability to sweat so they dispel heat by panting and exhaling, which isn’t very efficient,” said Stapley. “They can go into medical distress very quickly in an overheated car.”
He said cracking a window open has proven to be ineffective against the rising temperature inside the vehicle.
“The best plan is to just leave your dog at home,” said Stapley.
Children, particularly small infants, are affected by extreme heat because of their small size, he said. The core temperature of babies can increase three to five times as fast as an adult, which can lead to severe distress and hyperthermia very quickly.
“One of the facts I think people might be surprised to hear is that more than half of children left in a hot car are done so unintentionally,” said Stapley.
He said sometimes people get busy and wrapped up in the tasks at-hand and errands they’re running and forget their child was in the vehicle.
The recommendation is to leave a cellphone, wallet, or some other important item in the backseat of the car as a reminder to take the child inside, he said.
There have been some complaints of dogs left in hot cars so far this year but Stapley said thankfully no serious cases or deaths have been reported.
If anyone sees an animal left in a hot vehicle, they are asked to call the Municipal Enforcement complaint line at 403-938-8913.
“That is a priority call for them and they go right away to manage that situation,” said Stapley. “We’ll get a hold of the owner and if we have to we will take the dog out of the car and make sure the dog is okay.”
He said if a child is ever seen alone in a hot car, people are urged to dial 911.
“That is not something to play around with,” said Stapley. “Call 911. RCMP, Municipal Enforcement and Fire will probably all respond to make sure we get that child out because we want to make sure that child doesn’t get hurt.”
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
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