Girl, 2, who was left in car is in critical condition

Mary Manning and Jen Lawson

Tuesday, July 29, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

A 2-year-old girl was in critical condition at University Medical Center after paramedics rescued her from a car without air conditioning about 5:30 p.m. Monday in northwest Las Vegas, Metro Police said.

No arrests had been made and police are still investigating the incident, Officer Jose Montoya, spokesman for Metro Police, said this morning.

The child had been inside the car about two hours at an apartment complex in the 2700 block of North Rainbow Boulevard, Montoya said.

"The mother of the girl was watching other kids at the time and forgot about the 2-year-old," Montoya said. When rescuers arrived, the girl "was still alive but in critical condition."

Lisa Teele, supervisor at Metro's abuse and neglect unit, said the girl's mother picked up her roommate's children from school and forgot to get the 2-year-old out of the car when they got back to their apartment.

"Nobody actually missed the 2-year-old," Teele said. A friend's nephew realized two hours later that the girl wasn't around.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue paramedics took her to the hospital, where Teele said she is in stable condition.

Since May, Metro Police have investigated 23 cases of children being left in hot cars, and five parents have been charged with child endangerment, a gross misdemeanor. One child has died but the father in the case, who left his son in his van, was not charged because his action was unintentional, District Attorney David Roger said.

The number of cases Metro investigated last year isn't available, but Teele said "we've handled more of these cases this year than last."

The reason is that more people are calling police when they see a child left alone in a hot car.

"There's more awareness in the community," Teele said.

Last week three women were arrested in separate incidents after leaving children alone in cars. A 6-year-old girl was left in a car downtown July 22 while her aunt, Crystal Meacham, attended a hearing at the courthouse. The girl was treated for heat exhaustion.

Later that day, Laterra Harris left her 11-month-old daughter in a car while she shopped at the Fashion Show Mall. The baby was not injured.

On Friday, a mother left a 2-year-old girl in a car at Saver's thrift store on Tropicana Avenue, Teele said. The case was turned over to the Clark County District Attorney's office.

Passersby called police after spotting the girl in the car about 1 p.m. Friday. The windows of the car were partially down and the engine was off. The mother came out of the store to find police at her car.

Also on Friday, police investigated a case of a father who left three children alone in a car for a few minutes at McCarran International Airport. He was dropping off his mother and walked with her to the ticket counter.

"As soon as the father left the children, patrol arrived," Teele said. He was not arrested.

Physicians and police said that cars sitting outside become like hothouses. The temperature inside a car can be up to 30 degrees hotter than the temperature outside.

The Las Vegas Valley reached 102 degrees at 4 p.m. Monday, the high for the day, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Fuis said. The humidity was 25 percent, but climbed to 34 percent by 7 p.m., he said, which made the air feel hotter.

A child left in a hot car can begin having symptoms of heat exhaustion within minutes, experts warn.

When a child's body temperature reaches about 103 degrees, organs start to fail. At 105 degrees, the child literally starts to cook, according to medical professionals.

"We just can't leave children" out in the heat, Teele said. "Not for a moment. It's that simple."