Helpful Steps When Teaching Your Child To Use 9-1-1
Teach your child to
call from the house phone -- not the cell phone. Once the call from a
house phone is made, the child really doesn't need to say anything else
to get help. Of course, the more detailed the information available to
emergency crews, the better the response will be.
Tell your
child not to hang up until told to do so. In most cases, 911
call-takers (operators) will keep kids on the line until responders
arrive. Children want to know someone is there.
Kids have a
tendency to mumble when they're nervous. Stress the importance of being
heard and understood. The recording equipment and computers make it
difficult to hear at some 911 centers.
Make sure your child can say his or her first and last name to the call-taker. He or she will use the child's name repeatedly.
Your child should listen to the questions carefully, and ask the call-taker to repeat if necessary.
Stress
to your child the absolute importance not to make things up. Kids may
see the call-taker's questions as a sort of quiz, and feel they let
someone down if they don't know the answer. That can lead to some
creative answers. It's much better for them to just say they're not
sure and move on the next question.
Have your child practice on
an unplugged phone. They can dial 911 and you can be the call-taker.
Ask them questions about the pretend incident. Do this kind of
role-playing repeatedly. Kids like make-believe and repetition.
Teach
your child when to call 911. Use basic concepts like when an adult
can't wake up, any fire that happens without an adult, or an intruder in
the home. Kids get the number down (it's only three digits after all),
but they sometimes get confused with when to call. Don't be
discouraged if your child can't explain the right situations to you.
They often understand intuitively even when they can't explain it.
Encourage them to trust their "gut" feelings, and if in doubt, to call.
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