05/01/2026
May 1st is National Heatstroke Awareness Day.
More than 1,000 children have died of heatstroke, because they were left or became trapped in a hot car over the past 25 years. It’s important for everyone to understand these tragedies can happen to anyone — but are always preventable.
In 2025, 31 children died of heatstroke in vehicles.
Parents and Caregivers
1. Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. Rolling windows down or parking in the shade does little to change the interior temperature of the vehicle.
2. Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — especially the back seat — before locking the doors and walking away. Over 50% of pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths are a result of a parent or caregiver forgetting a child in a car.
3. Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn’t show up for care as expected.
4. Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger's seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
5. Store car keys and fobs out of a child's reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.
Secure Your Car
Always lock your car when you aren't using it. Even if you don't have a child of your own, a child in your neighborhood could get into your unlocked vehicle. Over 230 children have died from vehicular heatstroke since 1998 because they gained access to a vehicle and became trapped.
Act Fast. Save a Life.
If you see a child alone in a locked car, act immediately and call 911. A child in distress due to heat should be removed from the vehicle as quickly as possible and rapidly cooled.
