Anatomy of a child’s death

All the safeguards were in place to save Myles Hill’s life.

There was supposed to be a head count. A log. A vehicle check.

But police say rules were ignored and the 3-year-old boy died Monday after being left in a van, where temperatures reached an estimated 144 degrees, for 12 hours by a day-care worker at Little Miracles Academy.

Now the Department of Children and Families and a child advocacy organization are hoping more regulations, stiffer penalties and technology will help cut down on a problem that’s not getting any better.

“In this case, that child was definitely let down by as many as three people,” said Janette Fennell, president and founder of kidsandcars.org. “[The day care workers] were written up previously about not keeping the log. They were warned. They knew they were supposed to do it and they didn’t. And that cost the little guy his life.”

The worker, Deborah St. Charles, was arrested Thursday on an aggravated manslaughter of a child charge.

DCF, which revoked Little Miracles Academy’s license, said it’s too soon to make any policy changes based on Myles’ death.

But a proposed change in the works for months would hand out stiffer penalties for day-care facilities that fail to have a second person check transport vehicles for any children inside. That penalty could range from a fine to the closure of the facility.

“We will continue to improve our rules and procedures with every opportunity,” said DCF Press Secretary David Frady.

Also, kidsandcars.org is pushing to require automakers to install an alert system similar to the one that notifies the driver the keys are still in the ignition.

Despite all the educational outreach, the number of hot car deaths is on pace to exceed that of 2016.

So far there have been 33 hot carrelated deaths in the U.S. and five in Florida. In all of 2016, there were 39.

“It looks like 2017 is going to be one of the deadliest years,” Fennell said.

She said people simply forget. She likened it to the mind going on auto-pilot when somone gets distracted or changes routines.

“You can’t educate your brain to not forget,” Fennell said. “It’s impossible. If you have the ability to forget your cell phone, you can forget your child.”

Dubbed the HOT CAR Act of 2017, bills with some bi-partisan support have been introduced this summer in the U.S. House and Senate. Supporters are looking for more sponsors before moving ahead with the legislation, she said.

There is opposition from an auto industry advocacy group.

Auto Alliance International said it was advocating for more education and outreach, rather than blanket changes. It says only 13 percent of new car buyers have children age 6 or younger, so legislation would miss the target population.

“And with people keeping cars longer, it takes about two decades for a technology to reach all the passenger vehicles on our roads,” the group said in a statement. “Greater public awareness saves lives today.”

The rise in deaths has correlated with laws starting in the mid-1990s that required kids be put in the back seat because of deaths from airbags when sitting in front.

For instance, during 1996 there were only 11 hotcar deaths, according to kids andcars.org.

But those laws had unintended consequences in that parents are more apt to forget the children sitting in the back, said Fennell.

Now the group hopes that the alert system will cut down on the deaths.

“Deaths are happening much more frequently,” Fennell said. “That beep notifying people a baby is in the back will save lives.”

Until in-car technology is available, companies are marketing external alarms to parents. One product called VitaSense alerts parents or caretakers with an alarm and a text message to a phone. It can be mounted on the roof inside a vehicle and it can sense a child’s breathing through radio waves.

There are also apps for phones that can send a text message reminding someone about the child after leaving a car.

The advocacy group safekids.org suggests creating reminders by putting something in the back seat such as a briefcase, purse or cell phone.

St. Charles