Abu Dhabi: Police have begun an investigation into the death of a one-year-old Emirati girl who was left in her family’s parked car, a senior police official said.
Her parents, who are alleged to have left her in the car under the sun, are overcome with grief and are not doing well at present, with her mother being treated at a hospital, the police source told Gulf News.
The incident occurred in the Western Region on Thursday, and was reported to authorities at 9.30pm the same day. The body was then moved to Al Ruwais Hospital. So far, the cause of death of the 19-month-old is believed to be suffocation and heat fatigue.
While police officials warned against leaving children in parked vehicles, doctors urged parents to take the risks seriously.
“You may think you are stepping away for a minute, but it could end up taking longer. And even half an hour in a locked car on a UAE summer day can be fatal,” Dr Abdul Nasser Kamel, internal medicine and pulmonary diseases consultant at Al Noor Hospital in Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News.
The doctor explained that a closed vehicle has no ventilation, and windows let in a lot of heat within a short period of time. Very little heat is lost from the car, especially with the air conditioner turned off.
“Researchers in the United States have found that at external temperatures of just 21 degrees Celsius, which is typical of winters in the UAE, the temperature within a vehicle, with the air conditioning turned off, can rise to 45 degrees Celsius. In the UAE, outdoor summer temperatures hover around 50 degrees Celsius,” Dr Kamel said.
Another study by researchers at the University of Western Australia estimated that within a car parked in the sun, it can get 20 degrees Celsius hotter than it is outside the car. This would mean children left in a vehicle in the UAE summer are exposed to temperatures around 70 degrees Celsius.
The human body suffers a heat stroke when the body temperature increases to just 40 degrees Celsius, Dr Kamel said.
“The body’s thermoregulatory system fails, and people initially experience dizziness, heat flashes and seizures. Heart rate increases and, eventually, one becomes unconscious and dies. A body temperature of 42 degrees Celsius can be lethal because cells are damaged and organs fail,” he said.
For children, the damage occurs much more quickly because their thermoregulatory systems are not fully developed.
“Just half an hour can prove fatal on a hot day,” he cautioned.
The doctor urged parents to take children with them when stepping out of the car. Even a window that is cracked open is not particularly effective, he said. This is supported by the Australian study, which found that leaving a window open by 2.5 centimetres does reduce the internal temperature by about three degrees Celsius compared with a car with closed windows. Still, this slight decrease is not sufficient to reduce the risk posed to children and pets left inside.
