Six children have been pulled out of hot cars in Bendigo since the start of the year, Ambulance Victoria has revealed.
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Paramedics attended the three cases in the middle of days when the mercury peaked well above 30 degrees.
January is the most dangerous time for children, pets and others to be left in hot cars, Ambulance Victoria Loddon Mallee regional director Michael Georgiou said.
A mix of hotter days and free time over school holidays can increase the likelihood of paramedics attending incidents.
In two of this month’s Bendigo cases people returned to cars before authorities were forced to break in, Mr Georgiou said.
He said it was common for people to “notice a bit of a commotion with the Ambulance turning up and unlock the car”.
In the third case case someone had accidentally locked keys in their vehicle, so the CFA used its equipment to break in, Mr Georgiou said.
Newly released Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority data shows Bendigo ranked among the top 10 suburbs for children left in hot cars last summer, coming equal sixth with Ballarat, Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Richmond.
The authority, which oversees Triple Zero calls, said there were an average six reports of children in hot cars each day over the period.
Seven of those cases were in Bendigo and two in Castlemaine.
There was no excuse for leaving children or pets in hot cars, the ESTA’s Executive Director Operations Patrick Berry said.
Sergeant Rod McDowell of Bendigo Police said parents sometimes unwisely decided to leave children in cars to nip into supermarkets.
“They are in a rush and are trying to save time. They need to slow down and think,” he said.
Temperatures inside cars can be as much as 20 or 30 degrees hotter than outside and rise to dangerous levels within five minutes of engines being turned off.
“If you see a child or pet locked in a car make sure you call triple zero (000) and state your location clearly to the operator,” Mr Berry said.
“If you are in a car park, look for landmarks, section names, numbers or the colour of the parking bay so you can provide specific details.”
Mr Berry hoped that the number of calls would drop with community awareness.
Castlemaine police Leading Senior Constable Steve Ipsen said people were becoming more vigilant about reporting children and pets left in hot cars.
“If they see something like that they will ring us pretty quickly,” he said.
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