With the death of a 4-year-old Cleburne girl who was found in the family’s SUV on Monday, health experts want to remind parents that as the intense heat continues, children’s bodies overheat easily and infants and children under age 4 are among those at greatest risk for heat-related illnesses.

Although her cause of death remains to be determined, officials believe heat may have played a role.

Parents and caregivers of young children should keep in mind that vehicles heat up quickly and can be extremely dangerous for children.

Health experts offer the following safety tips to keep children safe in cars during extreme heat.

zx Never leave any child unattended in a vehicle for any length of time, even if the windows are open. The temperature inside a vehicle can rise to more than 140 degrees when the outside temperature is 101 degrees, and a child’s body temperature can increase three to five times faster than an adult’s body temperature.

zx Check the back seat. Check to make sure all children are taken out of the vehicle when you reach your destination. More than 50 percent of heat-related deaths occur when a distracted caregiver forgets that a child is in the back seat.

zx If you are transporting a child and it is not normally in your routine, set up a reminder for yourself — a phone call from a friend or spouse, a note on the vehicle dashboard, or place something you need for the day, such as a purse, briefcase, or cell phone, in the back seat so you will check the back seat and see the child before you leave the vehicle. If you are transporting children and cargo, such as groceries, take children from the vehicle first.

zx Keep vehicle doors and trunks closed and locked. Up to one-third of heat-related deaths occur when children are playing in unlocked vehicles and become trapped inside. Keep vehicle keys out of reach and out of sight. Teach children not to play in or around vehicles. Teach children that vehicle trunks are not safe places to play or hide. Show children how to use the emergency trunk release if they become trapped inside.

For more information, visit www.nhtsa.gov/KeepingKidsSafe or emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat.



Elderly also prone

to heat stress

Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warn that elderly people are more prone to heat stress than younger people.

They do not adjust as well as young people to sudden changes in temperature, are more likely to have a chronic medical condition that changes normal body responses to heat and are more likely to take prescription medicines that impair the body’s ability to regulate its temperature or that inhibit perspiration, CDC experts said.

Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness, CDC experts said, and occurs when the body becomes unable to control its temperature. The body’s temperature rises rapidly, the body loses its ability to sweat and it is unable to cool down. Body temperatures rise to 106 degrees or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided.

Those with elderly relatives or neighbors can help them protect themselves from heat-related stress by visiting them at least twice a day and watching them for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Encourage them to increase their fluid intake by drinking cool, nonalcoholic beverages regardless of their activity level. However, if their doctor generally limits the amount of fluid they drink or they are on water pills, they will need to ask their doctor how much they should drink while the weather is hot, CDC experts said.

Take them to air-conditioned locations if they have transportation problems.

Robin Fuller with Meals-on-Wheels of Johnson and Ellis Counties, which provides home-bound elderly and disabled persons with home-delivered meals and daily personal contact, said that their volunteers have been keeping a close eye on their clients during the heat wave.

“We make sure that the volunteers are our eyes and ears. If anyone’s air is out or they need a fan, we have resources that we contact to either get their air working again or to get fans out there,” Fuller said. “Our volunteers are a big source of communication between us and our clients because they get to be in the home and see them.”

Fuller said that volunteers will ask and look for signs of distress, such as disorientation or how they are dressed.

According to CDC, symptoms of heat stroke could include an extremely high body temperature above 103 degrees; red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating); a rapid, strong pulse; a throbbing headache; dizziness or nausea.

Signs of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting, fainting, cool and moist skin, a fast and weak pulse rate or fast and shallow breathing.

“Some clients in the middle of the heat will be dressed warm, and that tells us their physical condition,” Fuller said. “[Volunteers] will look for conditions in their home. They communicate all sorts of things back to us. Those clients may not want to call us directly and ask us, but they get close enough and they get a bond with our volunteers and they feel confident enough to share with them.”

Those that see signs of severe heat stress may be dealing with a life-threatening emergency, experts warn.

Have someone call for immediate medical assistance while you begin cooling the affected person, and CDC experts recommend doing the following:

zx Get the person to a shady area.

zx Cool the person rapidly, using whatever methods you can. For example, immerse the person in a tub of cool water; place the person in a cool shower; spray the person with cool water from a garden hose; sponge the person with cool water; or if the humidity is low, wrap the person in a cool, wet sheet and fan him or her vigorously.

zx Monitor body temperature and continue cooling efforts until the body temperature drops to 101 to 102 degrees.

zx If emergency medical personnel are delayed, call the hospital emergency room for further instructions.

zx Do not give the person alcohol to drink.

zx Get medical assistance as soon as possible.

For more information, visit www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/elderlyheat.asp.



Johnson County under

heat advisory

Swaths of Texas including Johnson County, a stretch from Childress to Wichita Falls and areas of East Texas remained under a heat advisory Wednesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jennifer Dunn, meaning temperatures can feel as high as 105 when coupled with humidity.

Dallas hit triple-digit temperatures for the 11th straight day Tuesday. Ninety miles south, Waco has had 100-degree days since June 30. Both cities’ records for temperatures in the hundreds were set at 42 days in 1980.

Dunn said although temperatures in the 90s and 100s are not unusual in Texas, that “doesn’t take away from the fact that it is hot and you have to be very careful and cautious when you are outside.”

Authorities said 56-year-old Angela Rogers, whose body was found Saturday, became disoriented after crashing an all-terrain vehicle, then started walking through the woods before suffering from dehydration.

Rogers’ husband reported her missing nearly four hours after she went riding on Friday near Graham, a rural community 75 miles northwest of Fort Worth, the Wichita Falls Times Record News reported.

The Sachse resident’s body was found about a half-mile from where she crashed her four-wheeler, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tony Fulton.

Dunn said that Texas was the warmest state in the country in June, which was the warmest June on record for the state.

Heat related-deaths last month included two Dallas men who died in their homes. Heat also was suspected in the death last month of a 3-year-old central Texas boy found unconscious in the family car. Authorities had said the boy had been napping with his father when he apparently woke up and wandered to the car.



Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.