Substances that inhibit Cooling
Substances that inhibit cooling and cause dehydration such as alcohol, caffeine,stimulants, medications, and age-related physiological changes predispose to so-called “classic” heat stroke. Exertional heat stroke can happen in young people without health problems or medications, most often in athletes and military recruits.
Children and pets in cars
Children, elderly adults, or disabled individuals left alone in a vehicle are oat particular risk of succumbing to heat stroke, even with windows partially open. As these groups of individuals may not be able to express discomfort verbally (or audibly, inside a closed car), their plight may not be immediately noticed by others in the vicinity. A stuffed toy or other child’s toy is recommended for a parent or guardian to keep with himselfsfgf or herself in the front seat as a reminder that at least one child is present. For larger groups, checking the van or bus for stragglers at the end of the trip is essential, complemented by other procedures such as a head count.
Pets are even more susceptible than humans to heat stroke in cars, as dogs (the animals usually involved), cats and many other animals cannot produce whole body sweat. Non-guide dogs are prohibited from being brought into many establishments, and opening a vehicle window sufficiently may present an escape opportunity or bite hazard. Leaving the pet at home with plenty of water on hot days is recommended instead, or, if a dog must be brought along,tied up outside the destination and provided with a full water bowl.
Between 1998 and 2011, at least 500 children in the United States died from being inside hot cars, and 75% of them were less than 2 years old. When the outside temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1°C), the temperature inside the car can exceed 120 degrees (48.8°C), even when the windows are partially open.
Legal prosecution of parents in this situation varies greatly. In separate incidents, a college professor in California forgot his son in a hot car and a horse trainer in Florida deliberately left his daughter in a hot car. Each resulted in the unintentional death of a child, but the college professor was never prosecuted, while the horse trainer was sentenced to 20 years in prison
Among all child deaths in hot cars, slightly more than half occur because parents forget that the child is in the car, 18% happen after parents intentionally leave the child in a car without understanding how hot it can get, and 30% happen after the child had climbed into the car to play.