As Colorado's heat maintains in the 80s and 90s, don't let children get heatstroke in a hot car

CBS Colorado's First Alert meteorologists are preparing us for a weekend cooldown. But don't be fooled -- we're still looking at extreme heat ahead of us. And it's children who could endure the worst from heatstroke.

"The heat can rise so quickly in the car in the summer. It's in an enclosed area, so it's a matter of minutes before that temperature gets really elevated -- not hours. Children are more susceptible because they have smaller bodies and less ability to dissipate heat. So they can suffer the consequences of heatstroke a lot quicker than adults," says Dr. Neil Cella, Pediatric ER Physician from Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children.

Troubling data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us over the past 25 years that nearly 1,000 children have died of heatstroke because they were left or became trapped in a hot car. 

In Colorado, we have a good Samaritan law. Cella says kids will show lethargic signs if it's too hot inside a car. They may look flushed, tried or irritated. In that case, "do what you can to get the kid out of the car."

If the child is not one you have any relation to, and he or she is able to interact with you, he says, it's acceptable to stay by the vehicle and call police. 

It's not always the parents who -- sadly and unintentionally -- leaves behind a loved one in a vehicle.

"A lot of the things we do in [cars] are routine and automated. Good people can have something bad happen to them," Cella says, and that this is a good time to put out this message.

He also suggests locking cars so kids can't find a way in but not a way out.

"We can try to break up our routines and be conscious about what the heat can do to kids." 

A CBS News data analysis shows 83% of all hot car deaths over the last six years happened between May and September.