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Keys locked in car with child or pet: emergency vehicle entry

Emergency numbers differ by country. This page uses 911, the number for the United States and Canada. Many other countries use 112, 999, or another number. Find the number for your country.

Accidentally locking your vehicle keys inside with an infant, toddler, or pet inside is an immediate, life-threatening medical emergency. A vehicle parked in direct sunlight acts as a greenhouse: interior cabin temperatures can climb from 70°F (21°C) to 105°F (40°C) in under 10 minutes, and exceed 120°F (49°C) in 30 minutes, even with windows cracked.

Young children cannot regulate body heat effectively: an infant's core body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's, leading to heat stroke, permanent brain damage, and death.

Do this now: immediate life-saving protocol

If a child or pet is trapped inside a vehicle and you do not have a spare key immediately at hand:

  1. Call emergency services immediately: Dial 911 (North America), 112 (Europe), or 999 (UK). State clearly: "I have an infant / child / pet locked inside a hot car at [Exact Location]." Police and firefighters treat hot car rescues as code-three emergencies with emergency vehicle dispatch.
  2. Assess the child's physical responsiveness:
    • Look through the window: Is the child crying, sweating heavily, or lethargic?
    • If the child is unresponsive, limp, gasping for air, or having a seizure, break a window immediately. Do not wait for emergency crews to arrive.

How to break a car window safely without injuring the child

Car side windows are made of tempered safety glass designed to shatter into thousands of small, blunt cubes rather than jagged shards:

  1. Choose the correct window:
    • Pick the window furthest away from the child (e.g., if the baby seat is in the rear passenger side, break the front driver-side window or rear driver-side window). Breaking glass right next to a child risks flying glass injuries and hearing damage.
    • Never try to break the front windshield. Windshields are made of laminated shatterproof safety glass that will not break inward easily with handheld tools.
  2. Use the correct tool:
    • Dedicated emergency glass breaker / seatbelt cutter: Spring-loaded center punches shatter tempered automotive glass effortlessly with a single press.
    • Sharp pointed metal tools: If an emergency punch is unavailable, use the pointed tip of a spark plug ceramic insulator, a claw hammer, a tire iron lug wrench, or a heavy pointed stone.
  3. Strike the bottom corner of the glass:
    • Never strike the center of the window. The center of tempered automotive glass is the strongest and most flexible area.
    • Strike the bottom lower corner of the glass firmly with the pointed tip. The glass will immediately craze into spiderweb cracks.
  4. Push the glass outward or pull out safely: Use a gloved hand, jacket, or stick to push away shattered glass cubes, reach inside, unlock the vehicle door, and extract the child into air-conditioned shelter or shade.

Emergency cooling for an extracted child or pet

Once rescued from the hot vehicle:

  • Move into air conditioning or shade immediately: Remove sweaty, hot clothing.
  • Apply cool water to skin: Sponge cool (not freezing ice) water over the child's head, neck, armpits, and groin. Fan them gently to promote rapid evaporative cooling.
  • Do not submerge in ice baths: Sudden ice water immersion induces shivering, which drives core body temperature higher and triggers vascular shock.
  • Hand over to paramedics: Paramedics must evaluate the child for acute hyperthermia, heat stroke, and dehydration.