Girl left in hot car dies in Edmonton hospital

Edmonton girl found in hot car Tuesday

Wednesday, July 3, 2013, 1:51 PM -

Police say a little girl left inside a parked car during extreme heat in Edmonton has died in hospital. 

The three-year-old child was found near death Tuesday evening outside a townhouse complex. It's not known who rescued her or how long she had been in the vehicle. 

Paramedics performed CPR and provided hydration before the youngster was taken by ambulance to the Stollery Children's Hospital. 

Police say it's still early in the investigation and they're not releasing any details. 

The temperature in Edmonton hit 33 C on Tuesday and felt like 43 C with humidity levels. 

A funeral was being Wednesday for a two-year-old Ontario boy, who died last week after being left alone in a sweltering car in Milton, west of Toronto.

Catherine Gaudreau, a spokesperson for the Canada Safety Council warned against jumping to conclusions in assigning blame, however, stressing such tragedies are less likely to be incidents of callous neglect than instances of a simple, irreversible lapse in memory.

"There are reasons however that could include the caregivers being distracted, it could include them being fatigued or stressed. A big one would be that it's a break in a daily routine,"said Gaudreau. "People get into autopilot and they drive straight to work and if that's the routine they might leave the child in the vehicle." 

Parenting experts offer a number of tips to guard against such situations including keeping a toy on the front seat while a child is in the back seat as a visual reminder that a kid is in the car, or placing a purse or cell phone in the back seat beside the child so the driver is forced to turn around before leaving.

Temperatures reached extreme levels