By Matt Roy
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

“The tragedy is in inverse proportion to the ease of preventing.”

That was the message this week from County Attorney Bill Montgomery after reports of children left unattended in hot cars — including two cases just this week.

The county’s top lawman said his office has been working hard to get the word out about what he described as a totally preventable tragedy.

“For about the last six years we’ve had a concerted effort to try and prevent vehicular heat stroke among children and pets within the county because it’s so easily preventable,” Mr. Montgomery said. “Last year we had zero. The year before that we had two. The year before that we had zero. The years we had zero really underscore the fact that we can, through education and awareness, prevent a lot of these.”

He said only one child fatality had been reported so far this year, which occurred in May when the weather was slightly cooler — but just as deadly.

This points out the risk of assuming because the temperature may be cooling, we can let our guard down. The risks of injury to those left inside a car unattended are still very real, Mr. Montgomery said.

Even while we’re enjoying the comfortably cool 60s later in the year or when a car is parked under shade, inside an enclosed automobile, the ambient temperature can quickly soar above 110 degrees nonetheless.

A child or pet trapped in such a vehicle faces even greater risks during these lingering summer months when outside temperatures soar toward 120 degrees.

In each of the incidents since May, the children were saved when bystanders stepped in and called for help, according to Mr. Montgomery.

“Thank God, during the period of this campaign we haven’t lost any children or pets,” he said. “Out of six incidents involving kids who have been left in cars, five were on the west side and we had one in Mesa this week. But all the other ones were in Surprise, Goodyear and Glendale. We averted tragedy in each of those cases because there was a Good Samaritan who saw children in the cars and contacted authorities.”

The county’s ongoing awareness campaign has grown over time.

In the first year, their effort was comprised of a rolling billboard used to spread the message on the road and at special events, Mr. Montgomery said.

Since then, sponsors have teamed with county officials to bolster the message to reach a larger audience through online ads and social media. Last year, they started using digital billboards.

Key partners in the county’s efforts over the past two years have included the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Arizona Humane Society and Penguin Air & Plumbing, Mr. Montgomery said.

He said he’s proud Valley residents have responded to the, preventing a lot of deaths despite having such dangerous weather conditions throughout our lengthy summer.

“I think nationally we’re in excess of 20 deaths due to vehicular heat stroke,” Mr. Montgomery pointed out. “When it comes to awareness, it should be a point of pride for us that with our extreme weather conditions notwithstanding, we’re going through the hottest part of our year and we’ve been able to avoid a single fatality thus far during this campaign.”

But though kids are back to school and starting the fall semester, the summer is not over yet and dangers remains, he said.

“You can’t leave your kids in a car no matter how fast you think you might be in running an errand. Because those errands will inevitably stretch from 10 minutes to 20 to 30 and that could be enough to cause a fatality with how quickly temperatures can rise in a vehicle.”

Recent incidents

In Surprise, where an arrest following a non-fatal incident was reported earlier this week, police officials offered a similar warning.

“Thankfully, we have not had any deaths here in the city,” said Surprise Police Department spokesman Sgt. Tim Klarkowski. “Our message is: don’t leave children or pets in the car. You don’t know if the engine may shut off. Otherwise, children need supervision and there are a lot of other dangers associated with that.”

As was reported in the Daily Independent, a woman in Surprise was arrested Aug. 1 for an incident that occurred July 12.

Back then, police responded to a store parking lot near Litchfield and Bell roads, where two children were left in a vehicle for nearly an hour. The air conditioner was on.

The children’s mother, Heather Lyn Tack, 28, said her 8-year-old convinced her to leave the children in the vehicle with it running. She then went inside a store to shop.

Police said Ms. Tack gave them incorrect information because she wanted to get home with her children.

Ms. Task said she had asked an officer in the past if it was okay to leave children along in a running vehicle, and that officer reportedly said it was okay as long as they were old enough and capable.

Ms. Tack was jailed on two counts each of child abuse and endangerment and is not allowed contact with her children.

In another incident Sunday afternoon in Mesa, police responded to a welfare check. One witness said they she found two children in a vehicle that was left running, unlocked and unattended.

The children were between 1 and 2 years old, court documents indicate.

The witness said she found the air condition on, but in poor working condition. The air could not be felt in the back seat where the children were.

Police contacted the mother, Jaimie Nicole Cassell, 23, who said she left the children for seven minutes to go into the store for baby food. She said she was trying to hurry because she knew it was hot outside. The temperature at the time was around 110 degrees.

Police learned Ms. Cassell had a felony warrant out of Chandler and Maricopa County.

She was jailed on one count of child abuse and was released on her own recognizance. She is allowed to have supervised contact with her children.

Left behind

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from 1998 through April 2018, vehicular heatstroke claimed the lives of 744 children in the U.S.

Among those, 54% were left in a vehicle unintentionally; 27% got inside by themselves and became trapped; and 18% were left inside intentionally.

The county attorney acknowledged many cases have involved parents who’d claimed they’d simply forgotten their child was in the back seat. He suggested a few strategies to make such oversight less likely.

Those include posting a sticky note to the dash or radio; leaving the driver’s cell phone in the back seat; or leaving the security key fob in the back seat, making it impossible to lock the vehicle without double checking, Mr. Montgomery said.

“Particularly the key fob, because then your car’s not going to lock when you try to get out and head off and you’ll be reminded,” Mr. Montgomery added.

The county attorney’s website — www.safekidsaz.org — also offered the following prevention tips:

• Never leave a child or an animal alone in a parked car — even with the windows rolled down or air conditioning on.

• Always check the back of the vehicle before locking the door and walking away.

• Never let children play in an unattended vehicle.

• Always lock your vehicle doors and trunk and keep the keys out of a child’s reach. If a child is missing, quickly check all vehicles, including their trunks.

• If dropping a child off is not part of your normal routine, take steps to remind yourself that the child is in the car.

Some examples of reminders are: placing something you need to take with you in the back seat next to the car seat so that you’ll check the back seat before you leave; set a reminder on a cell phone or calendar; or instruct your daycare provider to call you if your child does not show up.

Understandably, pets face the same risks as children when left unattended in hot cars.

Others at risk

Heat stroke and related illnesses are not only a risk to children — seniors remain among the most endangered when temperatures rise, according to a reported published by the Maricopa County Health Department.

Each of the past three years has notched the greatest number of heat-related deaths than any over the past two decades and residents over age 50 comprise 73% of the 182 reported fatalities just last year.

Last year, July saw 77 fatalities attributed as heat-related or heat-caused, with more than 72% of those associated with outdoor activity. Men accounted for two-thirds of victims, while less than one-third of cases involved homeless persons.

The most recent years in the study — 2016 through 2018 — revealed significantly higher rates of heat-related death with 154, 179 and 182 total annual deaths reported respectively.

Some signs of heat stroke include:

• Red, hot and moist or dry skin

• Not sweating

• Strong, rapid pulse or slow, weak pulse

• Throbbing headache

• Dizziness

• Nausea

• Confusion

• Irritable or strange behavior

For pets, warning signs can include: loud, rapid panting; excessive thirst; vomiting or diarrhea; seizures; glazed eyes; weakness or collapse.

For any adult, child or pet showing signs of heatstroke, get medical attention immediately.

If you see a child or pet locked in a hot car, call 911 before attempting to access the vehicle.

Editor’s note: Daily Independent crime reporter Chris Caraveo contributed to this report.