Nobody puts baby in a….car alone

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Austin Knox
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
The 17th Medical Group Family Advocacy Outreach Program conducted a social experiment in the commissary parking lot May 29, raising awareness of the dangers associated with leaving children in cars.

They staged an infant decoy in a car seat of an unattended vehicle, while projecting an audio track of a crying baby, to observe how people would react.

“We just want to make people aware that we all need to be advocates for children,” said Cecilia Diaz, 17 MDG Family Advocacy Outreach manager. “It is important that we provide the prevention information and to make sure that people are paying attention when a baby is crying, to make the call to save that child.”

According to www.KidsAndCars.org, multiple dangers present themselves by leaving children alone in a vehicle, even for a minute. Children can suffer from heat stroke, knock a vehicle into motion, be strangled by a power window or be abducted.

Michelle Brooks, 315th Training Squadron contractor and a good Samaritan from the experiment, attests to the situational awareness raised from the setup.

“It keeps people on their toes,” said Brooks. “It helps prevent mothers and fathers from thinking it’s OK to leave their kids in the car. It’s easy to just want to run into the store real quick, but you never know what’s going to happen.”

Brooks continued on her day with a smile, saying, “They’re your babies, keep them with you.”

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