Car window entrapment and accidental childhood asphyxia.
A 3-year-old boy was found hanging from a partly opened car window. Attempted resuscitation was unsuccessful. Postmortem reconstruction of events leading up to death indicated that the boy had slipped while standing on his tricycle and entrapped his head as he was attempting either to look into the car, or to climb in through the window. While it is not always possible to completely secure childhood environments, open cars should not be regarded as safe places for young children to play in or around when an adult is not in attendance. To minimize the chance of injury or death to children from parked cars, young children should be removed from vehicles and all windows and doors securely closed and locked, if they are to be left in the vicinity of the car to play unsupervised.
Byard
R W
RW
Forensic Science Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. byardr01@forensic.sa.gov.au
James
R A
RA
D000059:Accidents; D001237:Asphyxia; D001336:Automobiles; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004869:Equipment Safety; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019838:Neck Injuries; D013021:South Australia