Three young children have been rescued by police after being locked inside a car on a hot day.
The police force in New Jersey were forced to act after seeing the children screaming and 'visibly sweating' inside the locked car, while the temperature soared to 86ºF (29.5ºC). The car, at a South Jersey Walmart, was initially spotted by concerned customers who then alerted the authorities.
Officers with the Egg Harbor Township Police Department arrived at the store's parking lot on Wednesday, 8 June, just before 3.00pm in the Oak Tree Plaza, and were forced to break into the vehicle after seeing the distressed youngsters.
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Officer Tom Rizzotte told 6ABC: "It seemed like they were all screaming. I noticed one was banging on the window and screaming."
He added: "I saw one in particular sweating profusely from the chest and from their head. I could see drips of sweat dropping off of their body."
Officer Rizzotte said he used a lock-out kit to unlock the doors of the car and rescue the three children. All three have been taken to nearby Atlantic City Medical Center by ambulance, and are expected to be ok.
The three children rescued are aged 5 months, 12 months and 3 years old.
In a statement, police said: "The Egg Harbor Township Police Department would like to thank the citizens who contacted police and stood by to be sure the children were safe."
Police confirmed that officers have arrested a woman identified as 24-year-old Cyndie Jourdain, a mother of two of the children, alongside a 17-year-old female, a caretaker of two of the children, at the scene.
Authorities added that looking at security camera footage, the pair left the children in the back of the vehicle for 45 minutes until they were spotted and rescued.
Jourdain and the teenager have been charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The pair have been released pending a court date.
Police confirmed The Division of Child Protection and Permanency has been contacted and responded to the hospital.
US Police guidance for anyone who sees children locked inside a vehicle is to call 911. On hot days in particular, it can be easy for children to fall ill quickly if kept inside a hot vehicle. St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital paediatrician Dr. Brian Birch explained: "A child’s core temperature can increase three-to-five-times faster than that of an adult. That increase in temperature can cause permanent brain or neurological injury, or even death, in just a very short time."
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Topics: US News
Niamh Spence