re: TPOS mother in New Jersey leaves 2 year old in hot car

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Why is the thought of going into the store and asking an employee to send out a message over the intercom such a ludicrous and non-viable option in this scenario again?

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You don't know what condition the child is in or how long she had been in there. All you know is that she is screaming and unattended.

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whoever noticed it initially was troubled enough to call the police, but not to walk into the store and request an attempt to notify the mother?

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From the story it looked like the cop was the one to notice first?

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I'm pretty sure slim jims are standard issue with cruisers, so why not choose the least destructive/traumatizing solution?

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That I cannot answer, but maybe he didn't have a slim jim..?

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I guarantee seeing a stranger smash his way into you space is more traumatizing than waiting for mom to return.

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You can't guarantee this at all

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Police estimated it was at least 80 degrees inside the van

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Looks like the temp was into the mid to upper 80s during the day in Hackensack, NJ yesterday. Even with the windows cracked a bit, that car could have easily been and probably was much hotter than 80. I think he did the right thing in getting the child out.

From the National Highway Safety Administration:

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When the outside temperature is 83° F, even with the window rolled down 2 inches, the temperature inside the car can reach 109° F in only 15 minutes. “Within the first 10 minutes the temperature in an enclosed vehicle will rise an average of 19 degrees or 82 percent of its eventual one hour rise.” In warm weather, a vehicle can warm to dangerous, life-threatening levels in only 10 minutes.

Very young children (age 4 and under) are particularly susceptible to hyperthermia. According to the Medical College of Wisconsin,

Children’s bodies have greater surface area to body mass ratio, so they absorb more heat on a hot day (and lose heat more rapidly on a cold day). Further, children have a considerably lower sweating capacity than adults, and so they are less able to dissipate body heat by evaporative sweating and cooling.

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Notwithstanding the heat issue, I think it is inexcusable to leave a two year old unattended in public for any length of time. You can barely leave an awake 2 year old unattended in your own house for more than a few minutes. Who the frick leaves a two year old. But seriously, who the frick leaves a two year old alone in a Costco parking lot for what was clearly was a pretty significant length of time. Heat issue or not, that's ridiculous.

Asian tiger mom just toughening up her kid

Pussification of America. When I was 2 my mom would leave the heat on full blast in 110 degree weather and make me wear an altitude mask

My sister leaves her kids in the car routinely. She says if they don't like their arrangements they're free to go. I expect the 9 yr old to jet one day soon.