Kansas City Skywalk Disaster - 30 Years Ago

Thirty years ago this weekend, 42 people were killed and more than 80 injured at the Kansas City Hyatt, when a set of indoor bridges collapsed onto each other and then crashed onto the lobby floor.  It was a disaster of unseen proportions, as the lobby and bridges were filled with people attending the hotel's popular weekly tea dance.  Many of the 1,500 guests were there from out of town, to attend conventions scheduled to begin the next day.

About 50 people were standing on the fourth-floor walkway and about 100 people were on the second-floor walkway, with up to 200 people standing in the lobby beneath them.  The fourth floor walkway tore from its bearings and crushed the second one, tearing it down.  Then both bridges crashed onto the lobby floor.  Investigations revealed that critical changes to the bridges' designs made the tragedy unavoidable.

Read more about the disaster and efforts to finally commemorate the lives of the victims:  http://skywalk.kansascity.com/articles/sections/disaster/

Hyperthermia happened again... yesterday.

A 2 year old girl in the Atlanta area died on Monday.  She was left in a daycare van for at least 2 hours before she was found:

http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/girl-2-dies-in-982501.html

Kids in Hot Cars, Part 2

Do tinted windows contribute to hyperthermia deaths for children left in closed vehicles?

According to David Bell, the inventor of the VizKid, they certainly don’t help. Tinted windows (now standard in the second and third rows of minivans and SUVs) are great for the comfort and privacy of backseat passengers, but they also make those passengers invisible. So if the driver or other adult leaves the car in a hurried or distracted state, he or she could not see the child from outside the car. Nor could anyone passing by -- people who could literally have been a life line for that child.

Bell’s invention, the VizKid, is a visual cue to drivers and passers-by that a child is in the back seat. After seating and buckling the child, the driver lifts the VizKid upright and buckles it into the front row passenger seat. Ideally, when the driver leaves the car and takes the child, the VizKid goes down again. If the driver is distracted when s/he exits the car, but sees the VizKid before walking away, tragedy avoided. If the driver does leave, someone else could see the VizKid in the front seat and rescue the child before it is too late.

Check out the VizKid and Visible Kids LLC here.

Kids in Hot Cars, Part 1

Each year, about 40 children die from heat stroke (technically called hyperthermia) after being left behind in a motor vehicle. 

An excellent study led by Jan Null, a meteorologist at SFSU, shows that hyperthermia does not just happen on blistering hot days. Even on a relatively mild day, the temperature inside an enclosed car increases 50 degrees within the first 30 minutes. In other words, a child left inside a car on a 70-degree day could soon be suffering in 120-degree heat.

Here is the link to the study data:  http://ggweather.com/heat/index.htm#home
The full article, as published in Pediatrics:  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/116/1/e109.full

I find the maps most fascinating. They show children hyperthermia deaths in almost every state (even North Dakota or Wisconsin) and almost every month of the year. Heart breaks, each and every one.

Related posts:
Babies Forgotten In Cars
Babies Forgotten In Cars, Continued

Thinking About A New Phone? Here's Good Comparison

About a month ago, I made the switch from a Blackberry to an Android phone because I wanted a bigger screen, better web interface and a better camera.  Because of my carrier, I could choose between an Android and an iPhone, but I'm happy enough with my decision and I don't have to mind-shift that much to get used to this new phone.

This NYT article compares and contrasts iPhone, Android and Blackberry.  It starts off about games, but hits a lot of important considerations based on what you want to use the phone to do.

Thank you for voting in the Purple Combo Election

The result was unanimous - Purple and Lavender!  We're looking forward to offering this combination next fall, along with your favorite leopards, pinks, chocolates, camels and camouflages.

Until then, all who voted can use coupon code PURPLE to save $5 at the Car Seat Poncho store, now till June 30, 2011.

POLL: Which purple combo do you like better?

 Every year, moms ask me for purple ponchos, for their girls who are crazy about purple, or just not that into pink.  I've come up with two solid-color combinations, but I can't decide which to go with.

Post your preference!  First 10 to post get a $5 off coupon.

Btw, as much as I search and search, I can't find any good purple-based pirnts or patterns, so it's got to be a solid.

Thanks!

Smartphone Pictures Can Reveal Your Child's EXACT Location

If you post pictures of yourself or your family on Facebook, Flickr, etc., you may be revealing your or your child's EXACT location to strangers who have no business knowing.  Watch this NBC News video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vARzvWxwY

Go get your cel phone right now and disable the geotagging capability on the camera.  This website has directions for iPhones, Droids, Blackberries, etc.:

http://www.icanstalku.com/how.php#disable

iPhone: Settings, Location Services, Camera, Off.

Blackberry: Camera, Options, Geotagging, Disable.

A few people have checked their phone settings and were relieved to find the geotagging on their cameras was disabled by default.  Make sure yours is, or get it done asap.