KAILUA-KONA — A toddler remained hospitalized Monday on Oahu, a day after police say she was left unattended for nearly two hours inside a parked vehicle in Kailua Village.
The 2-year-old girl was last listed in critical condition at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Hawaii Police said Monday afternoon. Police did not provide an update on her status as of press time.
“Please, just help us pray, pray, pray, pray,” the sister of the child’s mother said on behalf of the family, which has requested privacy during this time. “Nothing more but pray.”
The child was intubated and flown to the state’s only children’s hospital Sunday evening after she was found in an unattended vehicle at the Coconut Grove Marketplace parking lot.
Hawaii Fire Department rescue personnel responded to the call at 3:53 p.m., fire officials said. When crews from the Kailua Fire Station arrived about three minutes later, they found the child was no longer alone in the vehicle and was being cooled by a fan.
By the time Hawaii Police officers made it to the scene, medics were already transporting the child, who was suffering from heat exhaustion, to Kona Community Hospital. Fire officials said advanced life-saving protocols were initiated en route.
The child, police say, was inside the parked vehicle for nearly two hours before her family realized her whereabouts were unknown and tracked her down. The car was in no shade or very little shade in the parking lot behind Bongo Ben’s.
According to police, the father said that the family had been shopping earlier that day, and after he dropped them off at home, he headed to work. He did not realize his daughter was asleep in the vehicle when he went into work earlier in the afternoon.
When the family realized the girl was not at the house, the child’s aunt drove to the father’s place of employment, and found the toddler in the vehicle, police said.
No one has been arrested in connection with the incident, which is currently classified as a reckless endangerment investigation.
When directed to the father’s reported place of employment, staff there told the newspaper they had been instructed not to comment.
Multiple witnesses who posted about the incident on social media declined to comment officially for the newspaper.
Heatstroke, which is typically preceded by heat exhaustion, is one of the leading causes of non-crash-related fatalities among children, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees and the thermoregulatory system is overwhelmed. A core body temperature of about 107 degrees is lethal.
According to the NHTSA, an outside temperature in the mid-60s can cause a vehicle’s inside temperature to rise above 110 degrees. The inside temperature of a car can rise almost 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes.
According to Weather Underground, the temperature was 74 degrees Sunday afternoon at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, which is about 10 miles north of Kailua Village.
“The public needs to be reminded that Hawaii has year round beautiful weather, that includes extremely hot days; especially on the west side of the island. With this in mind, the temperature in a parked vehicle can quickly rise to 100 degrees+ even with the windows down. As a rule of thumb, never leave a child in a vehicle, unattended, even for a minute,” said Hawaii Police Kona Patrol Sgt. Eric Reyes. “If a bystander sees a locked vehicle with a child inside; please contact 911 immediately. The Hawaii Fire Department has the necessary equipment and training to extract an individual from a locked vehicle. When in doubt as to what an individual can/cannot do; please contact 911 for guidance.”