Accidentally locking your keys in your car with children or pets inside can be a stressful and dangerous event, especially during the heat of summer. Even in cooler conditions, the health of your children and pets can be threatened. In this week’s Redlands Lock and key blog post, we discuss what to do if you happen to accidentally lock your keys in your car with pets or children inside.

Redlands Lock and Key provides a wide range of locksmith services, including residential locksmithing, commercial locksmithing, vehicle locksmith help, and more. Choose our team of experts as your locksmith in Redlands today!

Consider the Dangers

If your children or pets are locked inside of your car, it can lead to dire consequences. Cars heat up faster than most of us realize, creating an urgent situation if there are kids or animals inside. According to research, if it is 70 degrees Fahrenheit outside, your car can be up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit on the inside after only a half hour!

Extreme heat can be seriously harmful, and sometimes even fatal. Because children heat up so much faster than adults and don’t sweat as much as we do, their body temperature rises more quickly. Pets also can’t sweat like humans can, and even panting doesn’t work in a hot car, as they are only recycling hot air. When a pet’s body temperature rises even a few degrees for a prolonged period of time, it is a cause for real concern. It is critical to try to bring children and pets’ body heat down as quickly as possible if they accidentally get locked in a hot car.

What to Do

So, now that we’ve discussed some of the dangers of locking animals and children in the car, what should you do if it happens? Well, the best thing to do is try to prevent it from happening at all. Make sure your keys are in your pocket or purse or somewhere outside the car at all times and that you have quick access to them.

However, we are all human and accidents can happen. If you do lock your keys in the car, the most important thing to remember is that you should never leave your children or pets alone. Stand by the car at all times and do not let them out of your sight. Try to calm your child or pet by speaking to them through the window in a soothing tone. While doing so, calmly try to locate your keys. Maybe you misplaced them, or maybe they are locked in the car with your children or pet. If you cannot find your keys and your child or pet seems to be in no immediate danger, call a locksmith. Redlands Lock and Key provides vehicular locksmith services in Redlands and can help you locate them or remove them from your car. Our 24-hour emergency services allow you to call us day or night and we will be over to help you promptly.

If your child or pet is not calm and the temperature is high enough to cause imminent danger, immediately call 911. If you feel as though the health of your child or animals is being seriously threatened and you may have a life-and-death situation on your hands, break the window. If you do have to break the window, make sure you break the window that is furthest away from them. Your main priority is getting your child or pet out of the car and cooling their body temperature as soon as possible. Use your best judgement to determine whether you think the window needs to be broken or not.

Be sure that if you choose to go the locksmith route, that you make safety your first priority. Always ask the locksmith for their credentials and be sure that any logos or branding they may be wearing matches the logo and branding you found on their website.

Be aware that locksmiths have special techniques to pick the locks on your car and open the doors and they should not damage your car in any way. If you see the locksmith trying to pry your door open, be wary, as this is an incorrect approach that can seriously damage your doors.

Redlands Lock and Key offers 24-hour emergency locksmith services for your vehicle. If you lock your keys in the car with children or animals inside and you feel that their wellbeing is not immediately threatened, call us today.

We also offer a variety of other vehicle locksmith services, including car key replacement and repair, lost key recovery, transponder key programming, and more. Choose us as your locksmith in Redlands and contact our team of experts today!