Kidsafe Victoria has issued a red alert on leaving children in hot cars in response to the unexpected forecast by the Weather Bureau which would see temperatures well over 30 degrees in the next few days.

Jason Chambers, Kidsafe Acting CEO said that with forecast temperatures in the thirties over the next week, parents and carers should be on a red alert in relation to children being left unattended in cars.

Mr Chambers said Kidsafe's 'Do Not Leave Children in Cars' campaign, which was originally launched over 10 years ago, has continued to grow with an increasing number of early childhood centres and local councils installing Kidsafe's warning signs in their car parks and centre entrances, providing parents and carers with a daily warning about the dangers.

"The temperature inside a car can be 20-30 degrees warmer than the outside temperature, which means that in the next few days the temperature inside a parked car could easily reach over 60 degrees in a matter of minutes."

"Children are particularly at risk because they can lose fluid quickly, become dehydrated and suffer from heatstroke which can be life threatening", said Mr Chambers.

Despite summer being over, Kidsafe Victoria is continuing to use social media to spread the lifesaving information to parents and the wider community through community groups, local government, MPs and early childhood centres.

Kidsafe Victoria are asking these groups to download and share the free fact sheet and infographics to help raise awareness of how quickly the temperature can rise inside a parked car and the potentially life threatening situation that this can result in for children who are left unattended.

How to Join the KIDSAFE Do Not Leave Children In Cars Campaign

http://www.kidsafevic.com.au/images/pdfs/hotcars.pdf (Ideal for Printing)
Download the above Graphic and share on your social media accounts. Include this link to the FREE Kidsafe Fact Sheet for parents to download.

Media Enquiries:
Ron Smith, Media Communications, Kidsafe Victoria - Mobile: 0417 329 201