Bad Parenting

[Kaleigh]

I would want to stay with my baby no matter what. I would think that my presence would help to calm him or her. With cell phones and all I would call a friend to go get the extra car keys from my house. I would tell them where to find the hide a key so they could get into my house to get the car keys.

 

[pearcrazy]

Date: 7/27/2005 1:32:55 PM
Author: strmrdr
Im not going to give details but almost all fire departments have a glass breaker in every truck that just causes the window to break apart and fall strait down.
Works on all car windows except for the windshield.
As far as that goes all the cops around here have one also in their first responder kit.
It was not like they are going to hit it with an axe.

That lady needs to be put in stocks on a busy intersection with a barrel of rotton fruit nearby and sign saying what she did.

Man that pisses me off.
Some idiot judge will give her a slap on the wrist and return her kid to her.

That piece of equipment used to be called a thumper. I got my EMT certification in 1993 and part of my training involved learning how to use one of those things. Very easy to do. I keep an ice pick in my car glove compartment for the same reason. I watched a video about how easily one can break the glass in case your car is submerged under water and the electric windows go out.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 7/27/2005 11:27:42 AM
Author: Erin
Maybe she was afraid of shattered glass impacting her child's face?

Hard to buy that as a reason, in my opinion. For one, break a window *not* facing the baby......heck, they ALL give access to the vehicle right?

And besides, which is *most* likely to be more immediately fatal? A few pieces of glass to the face, possibly, or dying from heat exhaustion?
Hmmmmmmmmm.

Seriously......if I accidentally locked my *dog* in the car, I'd suck up the $150 to replace it and just break the window. I can't imagine not doing it for a child.

 

[Mara]

There''s lots of different ways it could go...

But having personally been in a situation previously where something horrible happens and it''s you and someone else and you are the only one who is capable of making decisions, you have no idea how you will handle the situation until it''s there and you are confronted with it. Maybe she was just freaking out and ran off to try to see if she could help. When something horrible is actually happening, I think alot of the scenarios in your mind just fly out of your head.

Really we only know what the radio or TV is reporting...I''m just throwing out some other thoughts.

 

[Mara]

Oh and for the record it was stupid of her to not just break ANOTHER Window...if this child was in the backseat in the carseat, break the front window opposite or something. Something to get a door open. But again who knows where her brain (?) was.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 7/27/2005 9:26:21 PM
Author: Mara
Oh and for the record it was stupid of her to not just break ANOTHER Window...if this child was in the backseat in the carseat, break the front window opposite or something. Something to get a door open. But again who knows where her brain (?) was.

Well, here''s the thing. . I''m a parent and if one of my kids was locked in the car, my panic reflex would kick in and I''d be breaking a window to get my little one out. I cannot imagine a frame of mind where a parent considers alternatives especially when the alternative includes LEAVING the car/parking lot where any person could break in and abduct my child or, of course, where the heat would leave the environment unbarable for any person inside.

No parent is perfect and we all make mistakes - but in this situation, the mom was simply negectful as proven by her child''s passing out. Her actions were beyond stupidity!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 7/27/2005 10:08:56 PM
Author: MichelleCarmen
Well, here's the thing. . I'm a parent and if one of my kids was locked in the car, my panic reflex would kick in and I'd be breaking a window to get my little one out. I cannot imagine a frame of mind where a parent considers alternatives especially when the alternative includes LEAVING the car/parking lot where any person could break in and abduct my child or, of course, where the heat would leave the environment unbarable for any person inside.

I, like Mara, am not sure what I would have done...had it been my daughter or my dog. I agree that the sensible thing to do would be to break the window, but I can imagine a scenario where I panicked and didn't think I could do it. I could imagine calling 911 for help instantly and then running home to get keys in a desperate attempt to save the life of my child or dog. I can imagine it seeming that that way I was doing all I could: first summoning help, then trying to be the help if the emergency vehicle didn't arrive in time. I wouldn't know how to break a window unless I had a tire iron or a huge rock sitting next to me when this occurred. How can one do it if one doesn't have a gadget with one? How does one do it from inside with an icepick? I truly have no idea.

Deb

 

[AGBF]

A postscript: I had a boyfriend who was very big (6'6" and about 240 lbs). He could figure out anything mechanical. A little girl had her hand caught in a car door and no one could help. He instantly got inside the front seat, lay down and kicked open the door with both feet. I don't think that way. It wouldn't have occurred to me to do that. It hadn't occurred to anyone else there, either.

Deb

 

[JCJD]

Date: 7/27/2005 9:24:38 PM
Author: Mara

You devil you!

Based on what Matatora and Stretch4 reported to us from news broadcasts, it seems apparent that the woman was either a) unwilling to break a window and angry at the suggestion that the FD do so - "She called 911 but wouldnt let the Fire Deptarment break the window. After ten minutes of arguing she left to go and get a spare set of keys.", or b) insistent that she could handle the situation on her own, calm, and collected, unconcerned or unaware of the severity of the situation - "The woman called 911 and told them that she lived three minutes away from the parking lot (Homegoods) and that they didn't need to break the window." This doesn't sound to me like a panicked woman trying to do everything she could to get her child out of the hot car. Of course, we only know what Matatora and Stretch say the media is reporting.

 

[ammayernyc]

Here''s a story that was reported about the incident.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- A woman who accidentally locked her 23-month-old son in a hot car refused to let rescuers break a window to free him because she was afraid he would be injured by broken glass, her husband said.
Susan Guita Silverstein, 42, was charged Monday with reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor after trying to prevent firefighters from breaking the window.

"She was worried about the broken glass injuring our child and possibly blinding him," her husband, Stuart Silverstein, told News 12 Connecticut. "She did not care about damage to the car."

Firefighters broke the window when Silverstein left a store parking lot to go home and get her keys. The boy, who was nonresponsive when rescue workers removed him from the car, was treated at Stamford Hospital and released.

Stuart Silverstein says firefighters told his wife it was OK to leave and retrieve her keys, but police and fire officials denied that.

Police Capt. Susan Bretthauer said Susan Silverstein did not tell rescue workers she was worried about broken glass hurting her son.

"All we know at this point is she said she did not want the vehicle damaged," Bretthauer said.

Even if the firefighters told her to get her keys, did she really think they were going to watch that poor baby die of hyperthermia while they were waiting for her?