We never know when an emergency might arise. For this reason alone, please teach your children, today, how to respond to an emergency. Explain to them what exactly constitutes an emergency and when, and when not, to call 911.
Make sure children know when to call 911, using these guidelines.
- a fire
- someone is hurt badly
- someone is passed out
- someone is unresponsive
- stranger trying to come in the house
- kidnapping, etc
Make sure they know what falls under an emergency, but more important if there is someone in the family with some type of medical issue, such as Diabetes or a Heart condition, they should know how to help that family member just in case they need to help them one day.
Diabetes - We should all know that if a Diabetic starts acting a little weird that their blood sugar is getting dangerously low. At this point the person should be given some food or even orange juice, that raises blood sugar rapidly. If the Diabetic passes out (or starts having a seizure), immediately try to put some sugar under their tongue or even to side of mouth and call 911.
Heart Attack - Have aspirin where a child can access it. Putting an aspirin into the person's mouth may just save their life.
If there are other Health conditions in your household, don't neglect to explain even to a 3 year old. They really do "get it". There was even an incident of a 2 year old saving her mom's life last year. The mom had just explained about calling 911 the week prior to the incident. The little girl actually dialed 911 and said "Mommy boo-boo" and the emergency personnel responded and this mother's life was saved.
It is also good to explain "situations" to children and talk about "what should they do" if it happens. Don't use scare tactics, just normal everyday conversation.