A quick-thinking Florida deputy took action on Monday to rescue a toddler locked in a hot car. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office posted a video onits X account of the Monday incident.
The video shows a deputy arriving at a Walmart parking lot where a 1-year-old was accidentally locked inside the vehicle.
The car's engine was off, and all of the windows were closed. A person at the scene told the deputy that the child had already been trapped inside the car for 10 minutes.
Climate Change
Global heat streak continues as April breaks record temperatures
The deputy didn't wait for paramedics to arrive at the scene and proceeded to smash one of the car windows to unlock the vehicle.
The sheriff's office said the child was in good health despite the heat exposure.
In 90-degree weather, a vehicle with its windows up and no air conditioning can have an inside temperature of 109 degrees in just 10 minutes. Under those same conditions, that temperature can be 133 degrees in one hour, according to NoHeatStroke.org.
Texas had the most hot car deaths in the U.S. from 1998 to 2023 with 142. Florida had 110 deaths, California had 56, Arizona had 43 and North Carolina and Georgia each had 40, the study found.
This article was originally published by Scott Sutton for Scripps News West Palm Beach.
