Kingston East police sensitise infants on hot car deaths

With at least two infants dying in the island since the start of the year after reportedly being inadvertently locked inside parked vehicles for several hours, the Kingston Eastern Police Division yesterday rolled out a Child Vehicle Safety Initiative to avert another such tragedy.

At the launch of the initiative at the Alpha Infant School in Kingston, Corporal Demerce Sooman of the police’s Community Safety and Security Branch and the Elleston Road Police Station told The Gleaner that it was crucial to raise awareness among young children and give them useful tips in case they have been left in vehicles.

“It is mainly based on the incident that is currently under investigation that happened in the Rollington Town area of this division, where a child was pronounced dead on arrival at the [Bustamante] Children’s Hospital, so that, in itself, caused us to bring forth this campaign,” said Sooman.

He was referencing the February 24 incident in which four-year-old Jordane Clarke died after a teacher reportedly took a group of students to the school. It is reported that Jordane, who was among the group, did not get out of the vehicle upon their arrival at school and was discovered inside the vehicle hours later.

On January 19, eighteen-month-old Shalaney Dobson died at the Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth after also reportedly being forgotten in a car for about eight hours by her father, who is a police officer.

“We can’t afford for any incident to happen [again] that could have been avoided,” Sooman emphasised yesterday.

Among the tips he gave the children if they should be forgotten or inadvertently locked inside a vehicle, was that they should not panic or lie on the floor of the vehicle. Instead, they should toot the horn repeatedly until it attracts the attention of an adult.

Nicholette McDonnough Foster, principal of Alpha Infant School, was grateful for the session and thanked the cops for the initiative, given that the children’s minds are more open and adaptable to best practices around the age of five years.

“We must start at the early-childhood level … . It’s the smaller ones who need to be empowered. When you incorporate them, they won’t have that fear. I really, really appreciate this effort. It is a marvellous approach in dealing with what happened,” she told The Gleaner.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com

Tips given by Corporal Sooman

1. Do not panic. Look around for an adult.

2. Toot the horn of the vehicle until an adult is alerted.

3. Do not sit on the floor of the vehicle.

4. If you’re in the back of the vehicle, try to pull the door at the rear of the vehicle. If unsuccessful, be mindful of the child lock that might be engaged and climb over to the front of the vehicle and try to open the driver’s door. If that fails, keep trying to alert someone by repeatedly tooting the horn of the vehicle until attention is given by an adult.

5. Do not beat the glass of the vehicle because the glass could break; and if the car is parked in the sun, the glass would be hot.