One cannot be too careful with children and even if parents are too careful, kids sometimes have to bear the brunt of their unintentional mistakes. One of the lesser known causes of concern in this era of climate change is the fact that young kids and babies are often left inside cars unattended by their parents, and the cooling is turned off. Since the car is effectively a greenhouse on wheels, temperatures as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit can develop inside of the cars and cause lasting bodily harm to the poor child inside. More than 1,000 of these cases are reported every month, and this figure is quite low when compared to the unreported incidents that were close calls. With 4 million children being born in the USA every year and 90% Americans having access to cars in their homes, these incidents will only increase in number. This handy little invention will avoid your child suffering a heatstroke after you have left him inside.
Currently, only twenty states have laws directly addressing the parental negligence inside cars including leaving the toddlers unattended in the car. Two fathers were concerned with this problem and came up with a device that monitors the child and alerts them if he/she is heating up to dangerous mercury levels. It is called “Sense a Life”, and it can be installed in just 30 seconds. The basic idea is that a child is to remind the parent that his child is alone in the car and even if you have placed a dozen locks outside, the baby is still in danger from the heat and for that matter, even the cold in frosty weather. The system works by first optically sensing whether the parent is inside the car or not. When the parent tries to go outside, an audio alert remind her that the child is still inside and if it is isn’t heard, a second one is sent directly to the phone via Bluetooth. It also has a proprietary app that connects to the user’s smartphone.
Source: Sense a Life
We have to be very responsive to the alerts because in a really hot day, it only takes 5 minutes for the car to heat up 10 degrees and once the temperature is above 104 degrees, the chance of a heatstroke in a small child looms very fast. Above 107 degrees, cells begin to die, and body organs begin to stop functioning. This can turn fatal within minutes and thus handy little app can ensure your child’s safety. The same system can also be used by the babysitters and nannies who are looking after the child when the parents are away.
The Sense a Life has undertaken successful clinical trials and many medical professionals have upvoted it. The team is now working on a fully wide-scale product that can be in every parent’s car for the safety of the child.
