Yesterday I had a really big scare. I went into the drug store to get a prescription filled and my dh said he didn't want to go in because it is too cold in that store. It was about 80 degrees outside. When I came back he was sitting on the edge of the car seat with his feet hanging out and looked like death warmed over. He said he got too hot in the car and didn't know what to do.
He doesn't drive but he has car keys and could have started the air conditioning and/or lowered the windows. I guess when he got confused he couldn't process how to correct the problem. I felt like those people you read about that leave their little kids in the car and they die from the heat. He is stage 6, but I have never given it a thought that he wouldn't know what to do...got to start thinking of him as a child.
I took him home and he was alright within the hour and I was so glad. But, NEVER, NEVER, will I leave him in the car alone.
I did the same thing this week. DH didn't want to go into the bank. It took longer than I anticipated. He had his keys also and could have opened the windows but didn't. He looked okay but thinking about it after, he could have gotten behind the wheel and left me. He never knows where he is, what road we are on, etc. so I was asking for trouble. Like you said, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN.
I did the same thing this week. Ran into the store for a few things and left DH in the car with the air on. On my way back out I thought, what if he had tried to drive somewhere! I can tell you I will never leave him again. I hate having to think like that about my DH, but that is what we have to do. Glad every ones husbands are ok.
I think with the extreme temperatures going on in parts of the country now, we all need to be aware of this. Also, I wonder what the legal ramifications could be (potentially). I know someone who left two children in a car briefly several years ago and she was brought up on charges because someone reported it.
The same thing went through my mind. When I saw how awful he looked, I thought Oh My God...what will I tell his kids..."I left your Dad in the car alone and he had a heat stroke". I have rarely left him home alone for a year or more, but I never thought about the car being a problem. When they are at this stage you just don't know what they will do...or they won't know how to undo a simple thing that goes wrong. Last week he turned off the TV and the next morning it didn't work...I finally figured it out and had to re-program the remote.
i would think that- leaving an adult who has been diagnosed with a terminal disease that affects the thinking process would qualify the same category as a child or disabled adult. i am no expert, but probably negligence with regards to a mentally disabled person or abuse of an elderly person. they come up with all kinds of charges if bad things happen to someone who cant act for themselves. we do see it all the time with regards to children left in cars and or animals. its just not a good idea during the heat or cold to take chances. as we well know their thinking skills are limited and its a shocking surprise sometimes to see how they can lose skills quickly. divvi
Discussed a long time ago on this board is the simple danger of leaving your LO alone in the car with the keys while you fillup at the gas station. They can push the lock button and not know how to unlock the doors. You are then stuck outside trying to get them to open the door or hit the unlock switch.
Never let your LO go behind a lockable door that you do not have the keys to readily unlock. I always carry keys whenever I go out our front door. It has save me several times. ;-)
Excellent point m-mman. I once ran into a store to get a quick item, and left the car running with the a/c on while my dw stayed in the car. As I exited the store, I saw my wife a few cars over talking to some strangers. Yep, sure enough she had locked the doors, and the car was running. Fortunately, I had Onstar in the vehicle, so they were able to unlock the doors for me and save me the embarrassment of having to call a locksmith, or a policeman. Since then, I carry a spare key, hidden in a place that I will never remember. I also got locked out of my home several times, when I ran out to check the mail, empty the garbage , etc, and that is a really scary thing to happen.