Mom frees child from locked van

Nevada policemen and firefighters answered a 2:11 p.m. Tuesday report of a child trapped in a van in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 2250 E. Lincoln Ave., but the child's mother, having accidentally shut the van with her keys inside, had opened it by the time responders arrived.

Police Capt. Casey Crain said the incident points up the danger of being in a closed vehicle in heat like Tuesday's 107 degrees. "The mom closed the door and the van locked with the keys in it," Crain said.

"By the time the guys got there, she had gotten her child out."

The child, rescued in short order by the mother, was safe from the sweltering afternoon heat.

Officials didn't know exactly how the child was freed from the vehicle.

It's clear that Tuesday's incident was accidental. Nevertheless, Crain noted a person who deliberately leaves a child in a vehicle could be arrested for felony abuse or endangering a child's welfare.

"It would be a risk to health in this weather, but it's never a good idea to leave young kids in a vehicle."

Fire Chief Robert Benn said temperatures inside a vehicle skyrocket when it is closed with the air conditioning off. "A lot of times, people put their kid in the car and and start getting bags and the wind blows the door shut," Benn said.

"Other times, they're just going to leave them for a minute and the minute turns out to be longer. The sun comes through the glass and heats that vehicle in a matter of minutes.

"Small children and the elderly are more susceptible, but it's dangerous for anybody."

In July, John Peter, M.D., an emergency medicine specialist at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis and professor at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, noted in a press release that one reason for the trend of more infants and children being left in cars is related to placing car seats in the back seat.

A recent study at San Francisco State University found that of nearly 500 deaths from 1998 to 2010, 51 percent were cases where the child was "forgotten" by the caregiver -- usually a parent.

Safety experts urge busy parents to recognize the potential -- however remote it may seem -- and to take steps to minimize any risk, the press release noted.

"Parents can develop their own strategies; some put reminders on their smart phones to make sure a child was dropped off at day care," Dr. Peter said. "It seems obvious that one would take the child out of the car -- but it's important to be aware that problems occur."

The Associated Press reported that as of Tuesday, 16 deaths in the St. Louis area had been attributed to the heat.

The Associated Press also reported Tuesday that a 3-year-old child died at an in-home day care center in an Atlanta suburb Sunday after being left in a parked car for more than an hour; two adults and two of three children went inside from an outing at about 4:15 p.m.; and realized after about an hour and a half the boy was still in the car.