The mother of a toddler believed to have died in a hot car collapsed in distress moments after her little boy was rushed to Wanganui Hospital's emergency department, a witness says.
The mother, a health professional, is believed to have accidentally left the 16-month-old in her car when she went into work last Friday morning in the mistaken belief she had dropped him off at daycare.
It was only later that she realised the infant was still in the car.
A witness described the distressing scenes: "The poor lady, she didn't even make it up the steps. She got carried in soon after her son was taken through the waiting room.
"She was wheeled through in a wheelchair. It wasn't quiet ... She was clutching her chest and screaming. It's just a scene that I will probably live with forever."
The toddler had been due to be dropped off at a nearby child care centre.
High heat in vehicles 'unsurvivable'
Parents and caregivers have been warned about the dangers of leaving children in locked cars following the death of the toddler.
The temperature inside a car can more than double in just 30 to 45 minutes and quickly become unbearable for a child, said the president of the Paediatric Society of New Zealand, David Newman.
"Most vehicles heat up very rapidly in the sun. Even on a relatively mild day of 21C, the internal temperature of a vehicle can get to around 49C in about half to three-quarters of an hour," Dr Newman said.
Cracking the windows down a bit makes no substantial difference.
"In hotter conditions, the inside of a car can get to 60C, and that's unsurvivable for adults, let alone children, if you're in there long."
Dr Newman said it was much more dangerous for children to be left in a car because they heat up three to five times faster than an adult.
There were about 37 cases of children dying in hot cars in the US each year, he said. Around half were cases where parents forgot their child was in the back seat.
Forgotten Baby Syndrome is the term coined to explain the phenomenon. Dr Newman stressed that while it was not a clinically recognised condition, it described that "human beings make mistakes, they forget things that are not in their usual experience. This happens to good people, well-educated, competent people," he said.
"This is not cases of people who are going into the casino and leaving kids locked up in vans. This is pure oversight, the brain does what it does, it goes into autopilot..."
- Patrice Dougan
Safety tips
• Never leave children alone in or around cars, not even for a minute.
• Put something you'll need - a cellphone, handbag, employee ID or briefcase - on the floor in the back to make sure you check there before you leave your car.
• Always open the back door every time you reach your destination to ensure no child has been left behind.
• Keep a large stuffed animal in the child's carseat. When the child is in the seat, put the animal in the front seat as a reminder that the youngster is in the back.
• If you see a child alone in a car, get involved. If they are hot or seem sick, get them out quickly, or call 111.
- NZME.
