Baby Dies in Tampa Day Care Van
November 9, 2001
A 16-month-old infant died yesterday after he was left alone in a closed day care van for several hours. Shawana Stacey of Lotta Lovin Day Care Center in Tampa picked up the baby and several other children around 7:30 a.m., but mistakenly left the 16-month-old in the van when the group returned to the day care center. The boy was left strapped into his car seat for nearly seven hours. Rescuers believe the toddler died from heat exhaustion.
Stories of day care related child neglect have been on the rise in recent years. The National Safe Kids Campaign reported that between 1996 and 2000 more than 130 children died from heat stroke after being left in closed vehicles. Just last week a Daytona Beach day care worker was charged with child neglect after leaving a 2-year-old in a closed van for over two hours. Temperatures in a closed vehicle can reach 120 degrees in just minutes.
As reported in the St. Petersburg Times, Dr. Max Luque, a pediatric physician at Tampa General Hospital, talked about the dangers. "The body of a child, after it reaches 105.8 or 106 degrees, [becomes susceptible to] comas, seizures, and multiple organ failures, and this of course can result in death," said Dr. Luque.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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