Research In Action

Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Week, happening now through September 21, serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of keeping our youngest passengers safe in motor vehicles. While motor vehicle crashes continue to be a leading cause of death for children in the US, CPS Week is also a time to focus on the tragic and preventable deaths caused by pediatric heatstroke in hot cars. Despite increased awareness, to date in 2024 there have been 32 reported pediatric vehicular heatstroke (PVH) deaths, underscoring the need for ongoing education and vigilance. Leaving a child in a vehicle, even for a short period, can have deadly consequences. 

The temperature inside a car can rise rapidly, even on milder days, and children's bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults. This makes them especially vulnerable to heatstroke, which can occur when their body temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit. At 107 degrees, heatstroke is often fatal. 

Here at CHOP we have qualitatively assessed through national surveys and focus groups the effectiveness of different PVH prevention technologies and analyzed caregiver attitudes and the perception of their own risk of PVH and towards PVH mitigating technologies. We found that there is no one single technology that is effective in preventing PVH, and that this issue may need to be tackled with a combination of technologies that can prevent all PVH cases. 

We found that few, or 12% of caregivers, believed they were at any risk for having a child overheat in a vehicle. Many caregivers held negative/judgmental views towards those caregivers to whom this event may occur despite research showing these events can happen to anyone. Our dissonant finding that caregivers view those who may be at risk for their children overheating in vehicles negatively, while simultaneously viewing those who adopt risk mitigating technologies positively, provides stakeholders with unique insights for future effort in tackling this issue. 

We at CHOP are continually pushing the needle forward in PVH research to generate insights that may help industry, advocates, educators, and healthcare professionals tackle this preventable injury mechanism. 

For resources and tips to help reduce the number of deaths from heatstroke, visit Safe Kids and National Child Passenger Safety Board.