As outside temperatures rise, the dangers for children being seriously injured or even dying from being left alone inside a hot car also rise. In fact, one child dies from heatstroke nearly every 10 days from being left in a hot vehicle.  That’s why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is heading an effort to reduce these deaths by reminding parents and caregivers about the dangers of heatstroke in young children.  

Additional information on Heatstroke Awaneness can be found at the Parents Central website.

May 27th through June 2nd has been designated as Hurricane Preparedness Week by the National Weather Service. Hurricane Season officially begins on June 1st and the Guilford County preparedness committee urges residents of Guilford County to begin preparing for the effects of Hurricanes in the Triad.

The National Weather Service has created a website designed to inform you of the hazards and preparedness methods available for Hurricane events.

Please go to the Hurricane Preparedness Website or follow the ReadyGuilford twitter feed for preparedness tips during Hurricane Preparedness Week.

Greensboro, High Point and Guilford County partner to provide geographically-based emergency notifications to residents.

Guilford County residents now have a new way of receiving urgent and important information through cell phones, text messages, home phone and email.
Called “G.E.A.N.I.”, the Guilford Emergency Alert, Notification, and Information System will send public safety messages to all residents and businesses within Guilford County (including City of High Point residents in Forsyth, Davidson, and Randolph Counties).

The system provides time sensitive, geographically-based messages about evacuations, shelter-in-place incidents, severe weather response and recovery efforts, law enforcement events, and other urgent incidents that affect safety.

As an example: An industrial accident results in natural gas leak occurs in the vicinity of W. Friendly Avenue and N. Spring Street. The Fire Department assesses the situation and determines that residents within a four-block radius of the leak should shelter in place to protect themselves against hazards caused by the fumes. Using G.E.A.N.I., public safety officials would identify that four-block radius and send voice and text alerts to people with registered phone numbers with addresses in the affected area.

Persons and businesses with traditional land line phone numbers published in local phone books are automatically enrolled in G.E.A.N.I., and will receive notifications pertaining to the geographic area of the address associated with the phone number.

Unpublished land line numbers, cellular and VoIP telephones are not automatically added to the system database. Persons wishing to receive notifications on these numbers must self register for the G.E.A.N.I. system at http://www.readyguilford.org/.

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Access the full Press Release Here.

Ever notice how your car can be nice and warm even on a cool day? But that cozy sun can quickly turn deadly for kids. Children’s small bodies heat up 3 - 5 times faster than an adult’s. Every year, children die from overheating in cars. A third of these deaths were children who were playing and got trapped in unattended cars. Be sure to lock your cars at all times – especially at home. And teach children to never play in parked vehicles. 

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Below are some facts and simple tips to keep your child safe

1. Between 1998-2010, more than 494 children died from hyperthermia or heat stroke when unattended in a vehicle.
2. Warm weather states are at greatest risk but all other states, with the exception of one, have experienced deaths.
3. There is no safe way to leave a child unattended in a car- even for one minute.
   Children’s bodies heat up 3 to 5 times faster than an adult’s.
4. It takes only 10 minutes for a car to heat up by 19 degrees and it continues to heat up quickly because of all the windows in a car.
5. To view a reenactment of a car heating up incrementally, go to www.ggweather.com then to the first bullet under “weather links.”
6. What can drivers do to offset this tragedy?
7. Dial 911 immediately if you see an unattended child in a car. EMS professionals are trained to determine if a child is in trouble.
8. Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle, even for one minute.  Leaving a window slightly open has no effect on the temperature in the vehicle.
9. Place a cell phone, PDA, purse, briefcase, gym bag or whatever is to be carried from the car on the floor in front of a child in a backseat. This forces the adult to open the back door and observe the child when they reach for their belongings.
10. Set your cell phone or Blackberry reminder to be sure you dropped your child off at day care.
11. Set your computer “Outlook” program to ask, “Did you drop off at daycare today?”
12. Have a plan that if your child is late for daycare that you will be called within a few minutes. Be especially careful if you change your routine for dropping off children at day care.
13. Teach children not to play in any vehicle.
14. Lock all vehicle doors and trunk – especially at home. Cars are not playgrounds.

Check vehicles and trunks FIRST if a child goes missing.

More information can be obtained at the following links.
Safe Kids Worldwide
www.safekids.org/nlyca
Golden Gate Weather
www.ggweather.com/heat
NHTSA
www.nhtsa.gov/Driving Safety/Child Safety/Keeping Kids Safe: Inside & Out
Harrison’s Hope
www.harrisonshope.org
Kids and Cars
www.kidsandcars.org