The latest death of a child in a vehicle is another wake-up call for us as a society to improve the safety profile of children transported in vehicles.
Malaysia is not peculiar in having these tragic deaths and we can learn from other countries to put in place prevention measures.
In this instance, it was a school bus. We had one similar school bus death occurring a number of years ago in the Klang Valley.
The mechanism in school bus vehicular hyperthermia (heat stroke) or ‘forgotten baby syndrome’ is when a young child falls asleep in the back of the bus and no one notices. The driver fails to check the vehicle and leaves with the vehicle locked. It takes less than 30 minutes in a closed vehicle to kill a young child.
In many of the past events, we have had parents transporting their children, and the mechanisms of prevention there are different. School bus vehicular hyperthermia requires different prevention initiatives.
While there is no foolproof method to guarantee that a child will never be forgotten on a school bus, a multi-layered approach involving strict protocols and increased awareness can significantly minimise the risk. Key strategies include:
Mandatory End-Of-Route Checks
All bus drivers should be trained to practise end-of-route checks. This should be a non-negotiable standard operating procedure (SOP) where all bus drivers walk through the bus to ensure no child is left behind.
This should include checking under seats. This check should be documented and inspected periodically. In addition, regular refresher training for bus drivers is crucial.
Attendance Verification And Two-Way Communication With Parents
This involves all pre-school and school staff to verify that all expected students have arrived in the centre or classroom. Child care providers and teachers should call parents immediately (within 10 minutes for any benefit) if a child does not turn up at the correct time.
While the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development had announced in 2023 that this would become SOP for nursery operators we are unsure about its implementation.
The SOP should be tested and verified intermittently for it to be effective. In addition, it should be extended to all pre-schools and primary schools.
Buddy System
While not as effective, we should encourage older students to look out for younger ones as an added layer of support. This will also require teaching children bus safety rules.
Technological Approaches
Some countries have also used technology to augment prevention strategies. These include child presence detection systems; RFID or barcode scanning for each child upon boarding and exiting the bus; bus driver check buttons that require the driver to physically walk to the back of the bus and press a button to deactivate an alarm ensures a visual check is performed at the end of each route.
Clear Emergency Procedures
Finally, we need to establish protocols for when a child is discovered to be missing or left in a vehicle. This includes immediate notification of parents, and emergency services.
While we may want to act punitively against those involved, we must remember that all these vehicular hyperthermia deaths are preventable. We need to work together to reduce these tragic child deaths.
The government needs to give a strong focus to forgotten baby syndrome and take concerted action. This should include promoting and sustaining useful measures in media and public outlets.
Each death is a national tragedy. This crisis will not go away without a government-led, system-wide change.
Dr Amar-Singh HSS is a consultant paediatrician and child disability activist.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
