Firefighters were left with no choice other than to smash the window of a car with a ‘distressed’ child locked inside as the temperature soared to 34C on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade said firefighters rushed to the scene, arriving at Pascoe Vale Rd, Coolaroo, at 2.52pm.
‘The child was sweating in the vehicle so firefighters have smashed the window to get the child out,’ the Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesperson told the Herald Sun.
Firefighters were forced to smash the window of a locked ar with a child inside on a 34°C day
Parents have been repeatedly warned to not lock their children in cars, especially in summer
A spokeswoman for Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were initially called to the scene, but the ambulance was cancelled after it was determined the child was hot and ‘distressed’ but uninjured.
Parents have been repeatedly warned to not lock their children in cars, especially over summer where sweltering temperatures of up to 45°C are expected.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Metropolitan Fire Brigade for an update.
It does not take long for the temperature inside a car to escalate on a hot day, Kidsafe Victoria President Doctor Mark Stokes said.
‘On a 29 degree Celsius day, a car can reach 44 degrees in just 10 minutes and a deadly 60 degrees in 20 minutes,’ he told The Age last year. ‘Leaving the window down a few centimeters does little.’
On average, four Victorian kids are left in hot cars a day with 1562 calls made to paramedics last year to rescue or treat children.
In summer, it can be up to 30°C hotter than inside a locked car than outside and the temperature inside a vehicle can heat up to more than double the outside air temperature within minutes, according to the Herald Sun.
An eight-year-old boy is still in critical condition after being found inside a family car in Melbourne as temperatures soared to a possible 60C inside the black Kia minivan (pictured)
Emergency services rushed the child to the Royal Children’s Hospital where he remains critical
This incident comes just weeks after an eight-year-old boy who hid in the back of his family car was found unresponsive in sweltering heat hours later in Newport.
His mother revealed she thought the boy was at school, not realising he had hidden himself in the back seat during the morning drop-off.
The young boy, who is now clinging to life in hospital was found in the family Kia Carnival on Maddox Road in Newport, Melbourne, at around 2.45pm on November 14 and had spent more hours inside the car in 30°C+ heat.
The child was was in cardiac arrest and ‘not breathing’ according to early reports – and was taken to hospital immediately.
A resident allegedly saw the boy, who is believed to attend a local school, convulsing in the back seat of the car and used an umbrella to shield him from the sun as emergency services frantically worked to free him.
The boy was seen convulsing in the back of the hot car and using an umbrella to block the sun
‘On a 29 degree Celsius day, a car can reach…a deadly 60 degrees in 20 minutes,’ KidSafe said
‘The boy’s mother dropped her children at primary school in the morning however, didn’t realise one of the kids had climbed into the rear of the car and hid himself,’ Victoria Police spokeswoman Leonie Johnson said on Tuesday.
‘She has driven to work and parked her car without knowing he was in there.’
After she made the shocking discovery, emergency services rushed to Maddox Road at suburban Newport and took the child to the Royal Children’s Hospital where he remains in a critical condition.
It’s believed the boy had to undertake neurological testing after spending hours in the family car as temperatures reached more than 30C, but he is expected to recover.