ACT police have issued a fresh warning to parents not to leave their children alone inside cars, as Canberra faces soaring temperatures over summer.
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![Tayla Morris, with her 7-month-old son Wyatt Bush at Kidsafe ACT childcare. Parents have been urged to not leave their kids in the car as the weather heats up. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos Tayla Morris, with her 7-month-old son Wyatt Bush at Kidsafe ACT childcare. Parents have been urged to not leave their kids in the car as the weather heats up. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc78dajbb94gz1bsb2pnfu.jpg/r0_218_4256_2611_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
New figures have revealed the past financial year was one of the busiest year for ACT police officers for rescuing children from hot cars in three years.
Five children were rescued by police officers from hot cars in 2018-19, up from three the financial year before.
The figures from ACT police show the number of unattended children pulled from hot cars spiked at five in 2016-17, while 2014-15 and 2015-16 had three incidents each.
However, the police figures are only the incidents formally reported and the actual number in Canberra could be much higher.
In some instances, a driver may have returned to the car and left the scene before police are able to arrive.
An ACT police spokesman said incidents of children left unattended in cars were taken very seriously.
"Child welfare is one of the primary concerns of ACT Policing," the spokesman said.
"There have only been a small number of incidents reported in the ACT, but when they are reported, police treat reports of this matter very seriously and provide a priority response.
"While the number of incidents are low, police remind drivers and parents that it is not safe to leave children or pets unattended in a car at any time."
The warning from police comes after two children, aged one and two, died after allegedly being left in a car for hours near Brisbane in late November.
![Parents have been urged to leave valuables in the back of the car to ensure they don't leave their child in the car, even for a short period of time. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos Parents have been urged to leave valuables in the back of the car to ensure they don't leave their child in the car, even for a short period of time. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc78daj4m1ymq1cv7dgy9.jpg/r0_218_4256_2611_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The children's mother has been charged with murder.
In a separate incident, a five-year-old girl died in hospital in early December after being found in a car parked in the driveway of a home near Port Stephens on the NSW mid-north coast.
There is no specific offence under ACT law related leaving a child or an animal in a car.
However, ACT police can consider criminal charges against the person responsible under a neglect of children charge.
It isn't just children being rescued from hot cars, after the RSPCA ACT said it had seen a spike in the number of pets being left alone inside cars.
Its chief executive Michelle Robertson said staff have had to rescue more than 40 pets from cars this year and were expected to exceed 2018's figure of 46 rescues.
"The trend line is going the wrong way and it's very, very concerning," she said.
"It can take only six minutes for a dog to die in a hot car, which is not a long time. Even if it's 20 degrees outside, the car can become an oven."
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The chief executive said rescues took place throughout the year, although a noticeable spike was seen during the summer months.
She said it was mostly dogs that had to be rescued from cars, some breeds being more affected by the hot temperatures than others and urged for pet owners not to leave their dogs in cars unattended.
"Dogs don't have sweat glands, which makes it dangerous for them, and if they have a heavy coat it makes the situation even worse," Ms Robertson.
"In some breeds, such as French bulldogs and pugs, it's very difficult for them to regulate their temperatures and they're more at risk, along with obese and older dogs."
In 2019, the NRMA said it had rescued more than 2000 children and 1500 pets from cars.
However, the road safety organisation said a majority of cases were parents accidentally locking keys in the car with a child inside.
Executive officer of Kidsafe NSW Christne Erskine said 5000 children had been rescued from hot cars nationwide in the past year.
"Police and ambulance officials are reporting it's still a regular occurrence and it's still a big problem," Ms Erskine said.
"The temperature can quickly rise inside the car, and the temperature can be 30 degrees different inside the car compared to outside and it's very dangerous for those little bodies.
"No access to water or cooling can have a major impact on the body."
Ms Erskine said even leaving the car for "just a few minutes" could be fatal.
"If you do have a child in the back seat, put your wallet or bag in the back so when you get out of the car you don't forget what's in the back," she said.
"If there's going to be a change of routine, it's good to have some sort of trigger."