To teach my 5 yo to call 999 in an emergency?

Teaching them the What Three Words is an excellent idea! Much easier to remember than a full address and postcode,

I've seen those 'real life kid calling an ambulance for their parent' type clips on TV, where the child has asked Alexa to call an ambulance and it worked! I've never used Alexa but could be an option for a child too young to use a phone.

We still have a landline primarily for emergency calls (we have a child with serious health issues so it’s not as crazy as it sounds).

Squirrels and Rainbows here teach emergency calls so go down the same lines as them (they also coordinate with other local groups so they’re all teaching a similar idea so kids don’t get conflicting instructions at groups). It’s a bit of a thing locally as a number of years ago a 3 year old spend nearly two full days with his mums body after she died and he waved to a couple of people through the window and they simply waved back. It was only when he waved again to someone who realised he was wearing the same top and crying that the alarm was raised.

We’re relatively rural so mobile signal isn’t always reliable.

We also teach the colour of our front door as all the houses in the street have different coloured doors.

Yes I agree with the getting lost thing.

If we are visiting places that issue a paper wristband, I write my phone number on it. We also discuss talking to a person in uniform or a mum with kids too. I also point out the information desk and describe how they'd call out on the tannoy "Calling the mum of Little Sausage, we have your child, come pick him up and don't let this happen again!"

My mum lost me so so many times when I was little, in airports abroad and everything, and I wasn't a bolter, she just expected me to keep up. It was literally at least twice a year, and once for many hours age 5 and I was traumatised. I'm still upset remembering it and I'm determined not to do that with my kids.

I have 6 and 4 yo. The older one knows 999 BUT this post has reminded me I need to show her how to use my phone! They both know our address. We’ve been practising my phone number but they are so long!

Every time we go out somewhere big/ busy we run through what to do if they get lost. Stand still (so I can find them) and shout mum and ask for anyone in uniform (police, shopworker etc) for help.

I have taught my kids (both) to go straight to a neighbour in the (unlikely) event I fall unconscious - we have two sets of neighbours that my dc know by name and two more sets that are nod-and-smile level friendly.

Imo this is more reliable than trying to get them to work a mobile phone, if under 5yo.

We've discussed exiting in the event of a fire but not what to do if an intruder comes - tbh i think it would frighten them a lot to discuss that and it's extremely unlikely. One must balance severity and likelihood

Depends on the child and on the setup. I showed DD how to call 999 and an emergency contact on my phone. Also two neighbours as first port of call, then we had a good friend in the next block of flats. As she grew I added other places /people locally that could help in an emergency. I also taught her our address.

As for being out/getting lost, again if local , a few safe places if further away, ask staff in shops, people in uniform, a mum with kids.she also used to have a bracelet with my phone number on it . Ask people to call daddy if I was unable but my phone was accessible. Again, she knew our address and our train station.

Fully agree with this.

I taught my son from 18ish months how to call. I never had a password on my phone or iPad so he knew how to unlock it, then he pressed the green button, the star button and then clicked on the picture of person who he wanted to talk to I.e my parents or bestie. They all knew he had access to my phone so were used to random calls from him when he wanted to chat. We also practised me pretending to not wake up with him then calling my parents to say he couldn’t wake me to drill it in that he called my parents.

when he got a little older I kept the keys in the door so he could unlock it and he knew to go ask any neighbour for help but not to cross the street.

I also had a daily check in with my mum and friend so they knew I was still alive 🤣 it was a huge fear of mine not having local family or knowing many people here that he would be alone.

we now also have an intruder plan along with a fire escape plan. Both we have “practised” so he knows what we do in those situations.

for fire safety we also have a smoke alarm in each bedroom which is important now he’s a teenager.

Your phone needs to be easily accessible because if something happened your child and you didn't know where your phone was would you wander around the house while your child was injured. get a smart watch that automatically rings 999 if you fall. Get panic buttons installed in the house that can be pulled in an emergency.

In public go to the police or someone that is staff, usually someone will help a lost child but I assume in this situation you would be looking for him too. So i would set a place to go back to, if you get lost in say Mns you will find him in the Fruit section for example

Im a Scout leader. We teach it to all our age groups from Squirrels (4+).

Teach them your address (or the What3Words code for your address if its tricky). 999. How to make a call from your phone (you usually dont have to unlock it). If you have medication where its kept so they can show ambulance people.

How to get out in a fire, and what to do if tgey cant get out (basically close the door and DO NOT HIDE).

As they get older... recovery position.