Deborah Hughes is tired of hearing about children dying in hot cars.
As both a mother and day care owner, Hughes’ heart broke when she read about a 3-year-old Houston boy who died after he was forgotten in a day care bus on July 19. The boy was found around 7 p.m. with temperatures inside the bus reaching 113 degrees.
So, she’s taking a proactive approaching in hoping of preventing a similar tragedy from happening to any of her kids: hot car drills.
“We teach them all this other stuff, so why not teach them a way to unbuckle their seatbelt and get an adult’s attention if they’re in a hot car,” Hughes said, who’s owned Creative Years Early Learning Center near Katy for 15 years.
The drills are simple: Hughes loads up her kids—those who are old enough to go on field trips—onto a bus or van and talks to them about the dangers of being in a hot car.
“What happens when it gets really hot outside?” she asks.
“We can get sick,” the kids shout back.
“What happens if you get stuck in a day care bus?” Hughes asks.
“You honk the horn.”
“And how long do you honk the horn?”
“Until an adult comes and gets you.”
Then Hughes welcomes each boy and girl to the front of the bus to blare the horn.
Since 1990, more than 850 children have died in hot cars nationwide, according to KidsAndCars.org, a national child-safety organization that tracks such deaths.
Children in Texas are especially susceptible to the heat and hot summers that can turn deadly. Texas leads the nation in hot car deaths with more than 120 since 1990, according to KidsAndCars.org.
“No one thinks a hot car tragedy can happen to them or their family, and that is why these tragedies continue to happen,” said Janette Fennell said, the founder of KidsAndCars.org, adding that rocket scientists, doctors, judges, principals and day care workers have all forgotten a child in a car.
This year alone, 29 children have died in a hot car in the U.S., which Fennell said puts 2018 on track for the deadliest year in history.
Hughes hopes that her drills will raise awareness about the dangers of kids in hot cars.
She said she’s already received a great response from parents after she posted a video of the hot car drill on Facebook.
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“It’s good for them to learn that because you just never know—you never know what could happen,” said Nakisha Fewell, whose four children attend Creative Years.
Heather Gauthreaux, whose 5-year-old son attends the day care, said she’s pleased to see children learning what to do in an emergency.
“If you can help them, you would want them to be able to help themselves,” Gauthreaux said.