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

[Sparklesbigtoe]

Ok I’m probably not BU. Just posting for traffic. But I’m wondering if you have a 4-6 yr old, what have you taught them (if anything) to do in various emergency situations? Eg. Alone in house with unconscious parent, getting lost in public, strangers etc? I’m a single parent and live alone with my 5 yr old son. I worry sometimes that he wouldn’t know what to do if I had some kind of accident and became unconscious. I’ve switched between telling him to go to the next door neighbour and calling 999 on my phone. But both could be complicated- my phone is often in random places around the house and he might not be able to find it, the neighbours might not be home, he’s not strong enough to unlock the big lock on the door that gets locked at night etc etc. So just wondering, esp if you’re a single parent, what have you taught your dc to do in this situation? And also if they get lost? I’ve told him to tell someone who works at wherever we are if poss eg. A train station or if that’s not possible, to look for a woman with kids (which I remember was what my mum always taught me). Regarding any kind of potential abuse I’ve told him never to keep secrets and not to believe anyone who says they will hurt him or his family if he doesn’t keep a secret. But I’m wondering if there are better ways to go about these things, so any advice much appreciated!

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.

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

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.

Fully agree with this.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

News article with offical advice from a few days ago

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrvjjz04jjo

Make sure he learns your names. I used to work in a shop and if a child got separated from their parents the only thing we could page for was their name. Unfortunately a lot of kids did not know their parents names.

Nobody is going to say that over a tannoy. You need to teach them your names.

Something for tinies, when they're out in public, knowing their parents' actual name ie not 'mummy'!

I've not tried it but calling 999 from Alexa is s great shout for small children or indeed anytime someone can't reach or access a phone.

Yes probably from starting school so from 4. We also had embossed silicone wristbands that they wore if we were out and about which had our phone numbers on them, google, there are loads of companies that do this now. I actually recommended them to the school for school trips with the school mobile phone number on it.

I said if you lose me, stand still and shout my first name, turn around slowly in a circle and look for me. Do not move from that spot. I will always come back for you.

If you lose them you are meant to start yelling I am looking for a boy, he is blonde, 6 years old and he is wearing blue shorts and a white t shirt, never their name. This makes it very obvious to anyone around you who you are looking for rather than just shouting a name, you could be looking for your dog.

Mine knew how to check for breathing and how to check if a heart is beating. Also recovery position but that is hard for little ones. Also that the lifeguards are an emergency service too.

Make a call. I’m a type 1 diabetic and on my own. I’ve always told my kids from as soon as they could understand the words what to do and say. I’d do regular reminders too. It may freak them out a bit so you have to be calm and reassuring. And you need to make sure your phone is kept in a regular place.

Alexa cannot call emergency sevices in tbe UK.
You can set it up to call an emergency contact.

Absolutely. This is one reason why a landline is essential. People don’t realise how hard it can be for their young DC to access their phone. All they need to do with a landline is pick it up and press 999.

Teach your child fire safety. Teach them never to hide from the fire - never get in a cupboard. Get down on the floor where the air will be cleanest. As well as the usual about not messing with matches and candles.

In terms of getting lost, teach them to ask shop staff for help. Failing that, a woman with DC.

My son’s martial arts class covered this as part of his grading and we continued the lessons at home. learning phone numbers and home address. covered calling 999, and what to do if a fire starts in the house, stay low to the ground, how to get out of the house etc. if you are lost in a shop look for someone in uniform.

Agree with making sure they know your name, and their address.

When my siblings and I were young 6, 5 and 3), we lived abroad for a short while. My parents drummed our address into us, like a chant. 55 years later, we can still all recite it at the drop of a hat!

Its obviously a joke to reassure them, my children know their and my names.

They say their own names. If you read my comment, this happened to me many many times as a child. "To the mum of Kingdom, your child is here". In different languages in different countries, because it happened A LOT.

If this has never happened to you, well, you don't have the experience i have.

My Mum has an Alexa that calls me and sends me an SOS text if she tells it to call for help- maybe set that up with a friend or relative?

You need to make sure your DC know their own full name, your full name and at least part of your address.

The other safety thing to teach kids is that unknown adults never ever need their “help”

A genuine adult who needs help, asks an adult, not a child.

We had to discuss intruders unfortunately as a neighbour was attacked a couple of years ago and it really scared my son. So we put a plan in place following that. The previous “loose plan” to burglars was to send me after them as a naked Scottish woman with a temper at the best of times woken up from sleep with mumma bear protective instincts would be enough to scare anyone stupid enough to break in 🤣