​Trumbull Officials Discuss 'Heat Kills' Campaign

From CT House Republicans: State Rep. Laura Devlin (R-134) joined by State Reps. David Rutigliano (R-123) and Ben McGorty (R-122) held an informational press conference along with Trumbull Police Chief Michael Lombardo, Chief of EMS, Joseph Laucella, Trumbull PD Officer Tim Fedor, Animal Control Officer Lynn Dellabianca, and members of Trumbull Animal Group (TAG) to promote the ‘Heat Kills – If you love 'em, don't leave 'em’ awareness program that focuses on child and pet safety.

Rep. Devlin started work with Trumbull Chief of Police Michael Lombardo last year to design a Public Safety Awareness Program to remind residents about the dangers of leaving children and animals in cars. Together they brought together the full House delegation from Trumbull, Trumbull Police and EMS along with local community leaders to establish the program, which includes signage, window stickers, bumper magnets, flyers and similar items to spread the word about keeping children and animals safe.

During the press conference Chief Lombardo said, “The point of the Heat Kills program is to raise awareness about the dangers leaving children and pets in hot cars. This program is a helpful reminder especially considering 52% of the child deaths in hot cars occur from caregivers who are just forgetful and didn’t realize the child was still in the car.”

Rep. Devlin said, “These 'Heat Kills – If you love 'em, don't leave 'em’ signs and stickers give people an easy way to call the Trumbull police if they see a child or pet in a hot car while they are out around town.”

‘This is great community program that will save lives. I ask anyone out there to use their good judgement and protect the welfare of your children and pets,” said Rep. Rutigliano.

McGorty said, “What a super idea. I’m glad Trumbull is one of the first communities to start this program. I will work with my colleagues to recruit businesses to put signs and stickers at their businesses as a public safety reminder.”

All three legislators said they supported a bill this legislative session which gives immunity to any ‘Good Samaritan’ who enters the car by force and protects the ‘Good Samaritan’ against any potential civil damages or criminal penalties when rendering aid.

Although Connecticut historically has few cases of children dying after being left unattended, the issue made national headlines last year when 15-month-old Benjamin Seitz, of Ridgefield, died after his father left him in a hot car for hours. In recent years Connecticut has also seen an uptick in reports from people who see dogs in hot cars.

According to the website www.KidsandCars.org there were 44 documented cases of children who died of heatstroke in cars in 2013. A child's body heats up three to five times faster than an adult's body. A car can heat up 19 degrees in only 10 minutes, even despite a crack in the window.

The national statistics show that 52 percent of children who die of heatstroke in cars are due to forgetfulness by a caregiver. Twenty nine percent are due to a child's playing in an unattended car and 18 percent are due to an adult's intentionally leaving a child in a car.

The town of Fairfield, under the leadership of State Rep. Brenda Kupchick, started the first successful ‘Heat Kills’ awareness program in 2015.

Photo courtesy of CT House Republicans