Hot Cars Pose Hazard for Children

Already this year, five children have died nationwide after being left in hot cars. That number topped 30 last summer.

"Because you're confined, there's no air circulation," says EMS Medical Director Dr. Keith Henderson. "The way the body cools is by perspiration and air circulation, and so if you have no air circulation you have no cooling ability."

In a car, temperatures can rise more than 20 degrees above the outside temperature in 20 minutes. There are other dangers as well.

"The younger the child, the more susceptible they are to dehydration because more of their body weight is water," Henderson says.

More than a third of the deaths reported last year occurred when kids were playing in an unlocked car in their own driveway.