Posted on 07/20/2009 4:32:54 PM PDT by rawhide
Deputies say a Cumming woman was concerned enough to take her sick pet to the veterinarian, but left her 22-month-old son alone in a hot SUV.
Dawn Myers, 38, was arrested on charges of cruelty to children.
Deputies were called to a Cumming vet’s office on Thursday for a report of a child unattended inside a Ford Expedition, said Capt. Frank Huggins, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
“The child was in the car for 30-40 minutes,” Huggins said. “The engine was not running and the windows were rolled up.”
Myers took her two other children inside the vet’s office, but left the baby alone in his car seat, Huggins said.
Paramedics rescued the baby and transported him to Northside Hospital-Forsyth. He was treated and released to relatives, Huggins said.
Deputies said the temperature in the Expedition was around 90 degrees.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Good for you!
Seems hard to imagine but we as a society are so constantly rushed for time. We are obssesed with multi-tasking.
I just wanted to point out to those that have not really thought about this issue that it’s possible for this to happen to anyone with a child. All that needs to happen is for something out of the ordinary to distract you at the right moment.
Yeah, I like that. I will mention this to the wife.
This topic is upsetting just to think about it. It happened here in Texas just recently.
>>You’re probably some older woman with cats....<<
I have a FReeper profile. It’s not hard to find.
I liked the “has too many kids..” part of that quote.
A real giveaway.
Yep. The “child free” volks (those who hate kids) tend to get me a little irked. ...kinda goes with inclinations in favor of tree worship, big government, “open space,” etc. I hope the general defaults come soon to cut off revenues. We need new leadership in business, politics and academia.
>>I just wanted to point out to those that have not really thought about this issue that it’s possible for this to happen to anyone with a child. All that needs to happen is for something out of the ordinary to distract you at the right moment.<<
The right moment, yes.
30 to 40 minutes, no.
Not with a busy two year old. A two year old consumes all attention. If this were just a mistake, she would have noticed after a few minutes of waiting in the vet.
I remember reading about a device that you can attach to either your child or to a stroller/car seat, and it has a another device that attaches to your keyring or to your purse. If you move the devices too far apart, it start to beep, alerting you. Great for wandering kids, too.
In the middle of the Arizona desert, and removed the engine and wheels.
I remember reading about a device that you can attach to either your child or to a stroller/car seat, and it has a another device that attaches to your keyring or to your purse. If you move the devices too far apart, it start to beep, alerting you. Great for wandering kids, too.
Truth be told!
That is a great idea!
I’m going to look for those and buy five of them ... no seven, I counted wrong on family member cars and trucks.
Here is one product for sale on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Levana-CT1000-Digital-Wireless-Tracker/dp/B000VY4G0A/ref=pd_cp_e_2
Maybe only the other 2 kids actually knew the baby was in the vehicle, and if they were toddler/preschool age, they probably wouldn’t think to say anything. If the vehicle was in the vet’s parking lot, and had dark windows like so many vehicles these days, it’s quite likely nobody would notice. Remember the case a couple of years ago where a hospital employee forgot a baby in a vehicle all day — baby was already dead before anybody noticed, many hours later — busy parking lot of a big hospital, and there had to be dozens of people coming and going past the vehicle, but nobody noticed until it was too late.
I’m thinking this may have been a case of forgetting, rather than intentionally leaving the baby all that time. She may have meant to get the pet and older children inside, and then go back out and get the baby, and was frazzled and underslept, and got distracted, and forgot. It happens.
We need to get rid of the back-seat-only laws (which coincided with a 10-fold increase in the rate of child deaths in hot cars) and people with young children should avoid having vehicles with dark windows. The combination of these two factors is really deadly.
As I said, I’m not really commenting on this specific case. I just wanted to point out it can happen to anyone.
Once your mind is convinced of something that is not true there is no safety device to fall back on. Maybe someone else was to have the smaller child that day. I don’t know.
She had two other children inside with her. They may not have been very old either — she’s only 25. One or both of *them* may have been consuming her attention. And she may not have been waiting. She may have gotten inside, having intended to go back out and get the baby (as it may have been virtually impossible to safely transport all 3 children and the pet at the same time), then the other kids distracted her, then she gets called to take her pets and kids in the back, and forgets she meant to go back out.
This was a 22 month old.
I would be pretty sure that the child was not in a rear facing carseat.
The rules for that are 20 pounds or one year.
Reviews are not too good on the product I linked to, but that is similar to what I read about.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.