Ambulance Victoria (AV) paramedics responded to 11 cases of children locked in cars during a scorching Saturday across Victoria.
After a day in which Melbourne recorded a top of 38.5 Celsius, AV urged people to never leave children, pets or older people unattended in vehicles.
“It is never safe to leave children or older people unattended in vehicles, in any weather, but particularly when we know that our state is facing days of heatwave conditions,” AV’s emergency management director Dale Armstrong said.
“The temperature inside a vehicle can double and become deadly within minutes.
“It is particularly dangerous for children to be left inside vehicles, as a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult.”
Armstrong said yesterday’s call-outs occurred across the state, with eight in Metropolitan regions, and one each in Barwon South West, Hume and Loddon Mallee.
He said the incidents were particularly confronting for our crews given the significant amount of community information which had been issued to Victorians ahead of this week’s predicted heatwave conditions.
“The message is simple – it is never safe to leave children in cars unattended.
“One call-out to a child locked in a car on a day like yesterday is too many – eleven is just ‘not on’.
“We know that accidents can happen, and often this is not intentional – but it is still potentially fatal.
“We encourage parents and carers to make sure keys are kept with them and to be alert while loading family members in and out of vehicles.
“And if anyone accidentally gets locked inside a vehicle, call Triple Zero immediately.”
Last month, motoring body RACV stated it rescued more than 200 children and pets locked in cars in the South East in 2025.
As of 30 November, its roadside assist crews had responded to 122 child lockouts and 96 pet lockouts.
They represent nearly one in five lockouts across the state (1109) in the same period.
