Children calling 999

My three year old doesn't know how to call the emergency services (not 999 here as we live abroad). I'll have to teach her soon. To be honest it won't help her much though as she can't open the door. She's disabled and can only reach the handle from her wheelchair, which she isn't usually in if we're just at home.

Knowing names and address is important too. Lots only know first name or mummy especially if different name to child. I know rainbows and brownies do what to do in emergencies as an activity.

I once accidentally pressed the emergency button. On my phone it does ask you to confirm (by pressing it again) if you do want to contact 999

It’s pretty easy. Press home, home, emergency on touch screen and 999 📞

My child could do this at age 3, the same time I got a lock password to stop him accidentally purchasing my entire Amazon basket or deleting something important like photos.

We refresh this every few weeks.

Of course it’s easier to have a landline and you can put a colour or merk on the 9 to make it toddler friendly. This is possible with a brick phone too.

It is an argument to have a landline of a ‚brick phone‘ but it’s easy enough for a pre-reading child of around three to be able to use the phone to make the emergency call option. Some children may take longer to get the skills and an alternative would be sensible

As pp says please also make sure they know their home address. Landlines gave the location instantly mobiles can take ages to track down

On mine, as soon as you swipe up as you would to enter a passcode, there's a button saying Emergency Call.

Even if a good section of the adult population over 40 hasn't paid that much attention to their phones previously, they could probably manage to work out for themselves what Emergency Call means as soon as they pick up a phone to call - and little ones are absolutely able to recognise the shape of the words under the numbers.

You don't know how to make an emergency call on your phone ?!

Sorry but that a glaring gap in your knowledge; it’s not indicative of it being difficult to do.
Majority of people with a phone know how to do this. If you’ve not learned than that’s unusual, and if people don’t teach their kids then that’s also a gap in their parenting. It really isn’t difficult. Go and look. It’s easy.

It’s really not. Not complicated at all.

I think it is important to emphasise calling 999.

Our two both know how to make emergency calls on smartphones, and where we live, the oldest also knows how to use what three words, they’re ten and three. Our ten year old did have to call them when he was four as I was suffering from a bad hypo. Our three year old has also called them, not at all needed, but at least we now know she can call them, give her address and say daddy is unwell when he is completely fine and hoping to have a calm and drama free day.

They also bofh know where certain medicine and medical info is stored and on a fairly regular basis we ask them to grab it so they don’t forget where it is etc.

For you. But as a reasonably competent adult, I don't know how to make emergency calls on my phone, and I'm quite sure a good section of the adult population over 40 are the same.

I will now make it my business to find out, and considershowing my 3 year old so he knows what to do.

Don't assume bc you know something, that everyone knows, it's arrogant, ineffective and unattractive.

All mobile phones have the ability to press emergency on the password enter screen to override the need to enter a password this will then dial 999 automatically. My son's school taught this at the age of 5, letting them experiment with a few different phone models belonging to staff. They were also taught about What three words appeared and how to use it to identify where you were to 999 operators. I downloaded it onto all our phones on the day my son told me all about it. Since then he's dialled 999 3 times when I've had a seizure, the first time being own a beach where he used what three words the other two at home and he knew his address. I also teach him what medical conditions I have and about the green medicine bag he should give to paramedics if they're called. He learnt this at 5 and is now 12.

My three year old twins know how to dial 999 as well as my 5 emergency contacts (their dad, aunt, 2 grandparents and a friend). So its not that complicated. They loved the novelty initially of ringing the above people when they were in the same room, so got lots of practice at that. The next step is teaching them our address but I held off as we moved house today

Get an old bog standard mobile phone. Keep it charged and unlocked.....no SIM needed for 999 calls, could even put an address tag on it to help.

Rightly or wrongly, most children will have seen and used a mobile phone from a much earlier age then ever before, so there's no actual need for the landline over this. Kids just need to be taught when and how, like always.

20 years ago, even less, I can't say I agree that was particularly logical.

Until very recently landlines worked even in fairly major power cuts (it was possible for them to go out, but rare). Having one for an emergency where the mobile happened to run out of battery or even get damaged during the emergency, or for prolonged times without power so you can't charge and need to remain in contact, was hardly not a benefit and definitely a good and sensible security backup.

There's no extra complications when it's what is normal. There's a time when many only had access to public phones, in an emergency they would have to know to go to one. Or back when rotary phones were a thing, that's more complicated, or at least as complicated as pressing a button and dialling the numbers.

Landlines are still somewhat common, nearly half of all homes in the country. But I dont think there is any real likelihood of confusion of difficulty in teaching kids to call emergency services on a mobile.

I taught my dd how to call 999 when she was 4.
I also taught her our address kinda like a song, in a singsong tone, iykwim.
She found it easier to remember when she sang it.

Use Alexa

I think the EU emergency number also works

Re teaching small children your phone number, you can get child sized rubber band bracelets with your contact number or medical information likes allergies printed on them now really cheaply. I think as well straps to hold an airtag.

Landlines are definitely having a resurgence in our local community. We are part of the smart phone free childhood so the kids only contact their friends on the landline means we can keep tabs on conversations.