Preparing child in case of any emergency

[harlsx]

Just wondering how to approach this and wondering if anybody has any advice or has done this themselves?

I feel like you see on social media where like a 4 year old has rang an ambulance as their mum has collapsed and the call is made public to raise awareness and made into like a Facebook video. They always make me really emotional for some reason but after watching, I realised that if something happened to me with my daughter at home, I'd be fucked 🤣 (I do have a heart condition hence the concern)

She's 5, speech etc is fine but how do I teach her something like this? Has anybody else taught their child this?

I taught my kids to dial 999. We had a landline which is easier because even if they just say help, or mummy isn't well, the call handler can trace the location immediately. With mobiles it's harder to make a call but by 4 most would have the skills too as long as it's not locked

We don't have a landline annoyingly as they're just not really used anymore in my experience. I wonder if it's worth getting a cheap one and just having it plugged in just incase?

I just told my son to get a neighbour at that age - we live on a close that’s got no traffic though.

I didn’t want to scare him tbh. When he was a bit older (maybe 7) and could remember our address I told him about dialling 999.

Most mobiles have an emergency call function without unlocking it so you can teach her that.

Also, depending on whether it’s safe to teach her how to open the front door, you could run through which neighbours will be helpful in an emergency?

I have actually taught her our address. Sometimes I just randomly ask her and she remembers well enough that if she told somebody like a call handler that they'd probably realise where she meant. I always lock the door just as a safety aspect really so I might see if her IPad has the option for emergency calls and explain their only in emergencies etc

That's a good idea, I'm going to check if her IPad does it as it's got a big bright purple case so easier for her to find i suppose! I tried talking to her about it the other day on a walk but she couldn't have cared less really 🤣🤣

Children can remember their address way before 7. Even the postcode and house number will do it. It is really interestingly the psychology of how children react in an emergency. Children that are almost non verbal can pull together the language to get help

This issue is why stranger danger isn't used any more. Occasionally children will have to approach a stranger for help and you need to teach them how to decide who to approach so neighbour, mum with children, person in shop or uniform.

It’s worth having a look at the What 3 Words locations for your home. There will probably be a couple that cover it and your daughter might find it easier to remember them? You might even find one of the squares has 3 words which you could do picture prompts for.

Keeping the door locked is obviously a bigger hurdle but in a true emergency I suppose the door could be broken down?

This is something you should teach very early on. From when they can talk and understand, so 2-3 is an ideal time to learn.

You can show them how to dial 999 and do lots of role play. Teach them their name, your names, their address, any important medical information etc.

Put it in a song, use lots of books and have conversations like “if mummy fell over and couldn’t get up, we would…” etc.

I taught my 3yo ds how to dial 999 on a landline or via the emergency option on a mobile, and tell them what was wrong and our address. And then to check he could see an emergency vehicle before opening the door.

I taught him how to get out of the house safely if an alarm is ringing, or smoke or fire. What to do if the stairs down were blocked. My dm always used to rehearse escaping from fire with us, and they still do drills at school, so why not at home?

My ds didn't have to use any of it until he was 11. I had a bad reaction to a covid jab and had passed out on the floor, vomiting. When I came round, the ambulance crew had already arrived. I was proud of him 😊

For an emergency out of the house, I taught both mine when young (4-5) my cell number, address and my proper name, not just Mum or Dad. I still randomly ask them to repeat it back to me. Yesterday it was used, as he called me from another adults phone.
When they have a cell phone - I have taught my eldest that if he is uncomfortable at any time or place to text me asking when his football practice is (innocuous question, that wont raise issues with his friends). This will result in me calling him and demanding he comes home immediately due to him not having done some chore or something. He is off the hook and out of a situation he doesnt like.
Both mine were “runners” when younger so explained who to approach if they lost me or I had an accident when we were out.
We have a safe word as well, for the rare occasions I cant get to where I need to collect them and send someone else. They know to ask that person what the safe word is. If they dont get it, then they dont go with them.
Simple tactics, just review with them frequently.

We have our address on the fridge. Even though they know it, its easy to panic in an emergency.

I would make sure that she knows your full name (including surname), her dad's phone number if he lives with you (as you are the one more likely to need the ambulance) and her full address. Does she know that you have a problem with your heart? It might help the paramedics know what to check first.

Luckily she does remember our address and I do randomly test her on it now again 😊 I'm definitely going to sit down and explain to her

We're in a new build so they all open with a twist lock rather than a key from the inside so I'm going to teach her how to open it in the case of an emergency as at the minute, she knows it's off limits 🤣

Good advice here, but fwiw op, the videos you are seeing on insta and tiktok feel real but they are actually taken from games. Do you mean the one about Dad and the bee allergy? It's not real, so don't feel your own child isn't the same.

I think the call handler should be able to say eg “the ambulance is outside now, can you open the door for me?” rather than DD opening the door at random. Great that she will be able to unlock it though.

I've never tried it so not 100% it's true, but can't Alexa's be set up to call 999 on command?

Thank you everyone for your responses 😊 my daughter is 5 so whilst she can read her primary school books, I'm not sure she'd be okay with our address although she does know it. She knows my full proper name also and I will be investing in a cheap landline (feels easier for her as just pressing 999 and ringing) as well as showing her on my phone/her iPad how to initiate an emergency call. She knows I have a heart condition but doesn't know what (it's a right mouthful for a 5 YO) but will keep reminding her just incase. I've also found like an emergency prep book for kids on Amazon which I think i'll buy when she's abit older and more advanced with reading

Noo sometimes I get random videos when scrolling through Facebook videos of like say Somerset police of them sharing about 4 year old Bobby saving the day or something and a recording of the call. I've only seen like 2 or 3 and I'm sure I've seen one shown on like a crappy day time tv thing 😊

Yes, I taught my children how to ring 999 in the event of an emergency when they were very young. And explained what would warrant this (i.e. mum unconscious on the floor etc.). I was a SAHM and we had moved to a new area with no relatives living nearby so I thought it was important they knew what to do in such an event (for their own sakes as well as mine). Also taught them our home phone number.

we bought a very cheap landline with big buttons designed for the elderly I suspect. I also wrote on A4 piece of card our address and my medical condition and to say I’d had ambulances out before. Showed the children where it was. Thankfully I always had DH around when I was really ill but much better now.

we live near a fire station on our street they are older now, but I did tell them that if they really really had no clue what to do to go and get help there.

When my granddaughter was 4, I was looking after her and I fell part of the way down the stairs.
I was still conscious and amazingly fortunate to have my phone in my hand. I called her mum at work because I couldn't get up and had a lot of back pain.
While we were waiting, granddaughter brought her slice of pizza and toy rabbit and came and sat next to me on the floor at the foot of the stairs. I told her not to worry, that her mummy was coming, everything would be ok etc etc.

She looked at me, smiled sweetly and asked,
"So, does that mean... I'M IN CHARGE?" 🤣🤣🤣

I also have the phone numbers of our neighbour friends on a whiteboard in the kitchen so they can be called if there's a need (my kids are now teenagers so pretty irrelevant I suppose but my friends are both nurses so useful to have their numbers I guess!)

I get the game ones pop up sometimes but most of the time they are legitimate ones posted from TV etc