Cookies baked in car: Do not leave your kids inside

Dubai-based dealer of Nissan and Altima cars, AW Rostamani Group, said in a media statement yesterday that it is leading a campaign to highlight the danger that heat build-up represents for children left in parked cars.

Called ‘Car Baked Cookies’, the campaign highlights the temperatures vehicles’ interiors can reach when parked in direct sunlight by cooking biscuits on the dashboard. With an astonishing 80-degree Celsius achievable in this confined, glass-sided and unventilated environment, the campaign message is simple: ‘If it’s hot enough to bake, it’s hot enough to cause death’.

The dealer has planned Car Baked Cookie demonstrations and cookie giveaways post-Ramadan to act as an ongoing reminder of the campaign’s message.

AW Rostamani Group is calling on everyone to pledge their support for the campaign via the dedicated www.carbaked.com website and #CarBaked Twitter hash tag where they can also see a video demonstrating cookies being baked in a car. Campaign partners are also invited to join AW Rostamani Group in spreading this potentially life-saving message.

Michel Ayat, Director, AW Rostamani said: “The loss of a child is a tragic event for every family but all the more heartbreaking when it is avoidable. We at AW Rostamani share in the grief of parents who have lost young ones in this way, but the answer is simple – never leave your child unattended, especially in a vehicle. We hope all will remember the symbol of our car baked cookies and ensure they always take their child with them before they leave their car.”

Children are much more susceptible to temperature changes than adults as their smaller bodies’ heat and cool much more quickly.

The statement added that, in our region, heat is the most obvious danger and the environment of an uncooled car, which rapidly increases in temperature is one which we should all be aware of as potentially life-threatening to children. The brain and major organs can be damaged within 10 minutes once a child’s core temperature exceeds 40-degree Celsius while death is a real risk if it rises just a couple of degrees more, it said.

While this type of child mortality is uncommon, one is too many. Please, ensure you do not leave children unattended, especially in parked cars.

1. Unventilated vehicles heat up extremely quickly and so can a child’s temperature
2. An unventilated vehicle interior can be 30° Celsius above the outside temperature
3. With an outside temperature of 50° Celsius, a car’s interior could hit 80° Celsius
4. A child’s major organs can be damaged if their temperature exceeds 40° Celsius
5. Damaging effects from excessive heat can occur in just 10 minutes – 15 mins can kill
6. Over 30 children died in the USA during 2011 and 2012 from heat build-up in cars
If you see an unattended child in a car, call Dubai Police on 901.
If you are concerned an unattended child in a car is in grave danger, call Dubai Police on 999.

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