Pediatric Heatstroke Fatalities Caused by Being Left in Motor Vehicles
| Autor: | Thomas M. Kennedy, Janette E Fennell, Steven M. Selbst, Amber Rollins, Deborah L Hammett |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Adolescent Heat Stroke MEDLINE Parking area medicine Humans Child Retrospective Studies Descriptive statistics business.industry Accidents Traffic Heatstroke Mean age Retrospective cohort study General Medicine medicine.disease Texas Geographic distribution Motor Vehicles Pediatrics Perinatology and Child Health Florida Emergency Medicine business Demography Medical literature |
| Zdroj: | Pediatric Emergency Care. 37:e1560-e1565 |
| ISSN: | 1535-1815 0749-5161 |
| Popis: | Objectives Fatalities due to being left in motor vehicles is an important cause of pediatric mortality. Few studies in the medical literature focus on this topic. This study aims to describe the circumstances surrounding these deaths, to determine their geographic distribution, and to evaluate the legal consequences for those responsible. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of individuals ≤14 years old who died of heatstroke after being left in motor vehicles from 1990 through 2016 using a database provided by KidsAndCars.org. Descriptive data and specified outcomes regarding victims and responsible individuals were recorded. Results Of the 541 cases included for analysis, 528 fatalities involved a single victim and 26 fatalities involved 2 or more victims left in a vehicle. Of all fatalities, 54.4% were male and the mean age was 16.4 (±13.7) months. The responsible individual(s) unknowingly left the victim(s) in the vehicle in 78.2% of cases and knowingly left the victim(s) in 16.6% of cases. A single individual was responsible for leaving the victim(s) in 88.9% of cases. The cases were noted in 45 of 50 states and most commonly occurred in Texas (15%), Florida (12%), and California (7%). Criminal charges against the responsible individual(s) occurred in 58.2% of cases. Conclusions Pediatric fatalities due to being left in motor vehicles most commonly occur when a caregiver leaves a child unknowingly in a home parking area. These fatalities occur most often in Texas, Florida, and California. Responsible individuals are frequently charged with a crime. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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