TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- When it comes to heat stroke caused by high temperatures found in an enclosed car, you either survive or you die, according to an emergency room physician at UAB Hospital.
For children, the elderly and pets, the chance of not surviving is much greater than for healthy adults.
'Most people that have heat stroke and recover are fine,' UAB's Dr. David Pigott said. 'With heat stroke, your whole body basically shuts down. It's a multi-system organ failure where your cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems, they all shut down.'
According to a study conducted by Jan Null, a meteorology lecturer at San Francisco State University and expert on the science of hot car deaths, when it's between 72 and 96 degrees outside, temperatures in enclosed vehicles can rise up to 43 degrees in an hour.
That means if the interior of a car is 80 degrees when it's parked, in an hour temperatures within can rise to more than 120 degrees.
Pigott said bodies in those conditions start making changes in order to regulate internal temperatures and get rid of the excess heat.
'Your blood vessels dilate, your skin gets red - that, basically, is your body trying to shed heat, to dilate those blood vessels near the surface of the skin and allow heat to escape,' Pigott said.
For adults, the process isn't pleasant, but the human body usually gets the work done.
Pigott said adults can normally get through short periods of time in those extreme conditions without any lasting consequences, as demonstrated by several people who have filmed themselves locked in hot cars this month to raise awareness of the conditions children are subjected to when parents leave them in enclosed vehicles in warm weather.
For children, the elderly and pets left in hot cars, because of the small surface area of their skin, it is more difficult for their bodies to shed excess heat, Pigott said.
'Their temperature regulatory mechanisms like sweating and body temperature control aren't as developed as they are in adults so they can't get rid of the heat as quickly or efficiently as adults can,' Pigott said.
In those conditions, heat stroke and that multi-system organ failure Pigott talked about can happen quickly, and,according to Null's research on the issue, it has killed an average of 38 children every year between 1998 and 2013.
The issue has been brought back to the public's attention after Justin Ross Harris, a Marietta, Ga., man originally from Tuscaloosa, was charged with murder in the June hot car death of his 22-month-old son.
Georgia investigators allege that Harris intentionally left his son to die in his enclosed vehicle while he worked a day's shift at Home Depot.
Entities 0 Name: Pigott Count: 6 1 Name: TUSCALOOSA Count: 2 2 Name: Georgia Count: 1 3 Name: Home Depot Count: 1 4 Name: UAB Hospital Count: 1 5 Name: Justin Ross Harris Count: 1 6 Name: Marietta Count: 1 7 Name: Dr. David Pigott Count: 1 8 Name: Ga. Count: 1 9 Name: San Francisco State University Count: 1 10 Name: Harris Count: 1 11 Name: Alabama Count: 1 12 Name: UAB Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1zV2vWg Title: Police smash car to save dog inside on the hottest day of the year Description: Officers were called to Finsbury Park, in north London, on Friday They found a dog cowering under the wheel of the car desperate for water When it's 22C outside the temperature inside a car can reach 47C Public health warnings were issued on Friday as temperatures reached 32C By Tara Brady Police were forced to smash the windows of a car to save the life of a dog locked inside on the hottest day of the year.
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