Although none of us want to think about being in an emergency situation either with or without our children, it’s important to be prepared if a situation does arise. Teaching your child what to do in the case of an emergency could save lives, and it’s never too young to start to increase their awareness.
It’s essential to approach this topic sensitively and to ensure that you avoid making your child anxious or scared when discussing emergency situations. There are lots of fun ways that you can gently guide them into learning what to do in an emergency using techniques such as role play.
What’s the right age to start teaching your child about emergencies?
There are some amazing stories about children as young as 3 years old who have saved lives by calling the emergency services themselves.
Obviously the more developed your child’s language skills are, the more effectively they will be able to communicate with the emergency services. However teaching your child to dial 000 and simply make contact with responders could be enough to trigger a response and help save lives.
You can talk to your child about emergencies and the emergency services from a very young age.
Children are generally fascinated by emergency vehicles so always make sure you stop to watch fire engines, ambulances and police cars if they pass you. Speak to them about where the vehicle may be going and what help they might be going to offer.
Your local emergency services may hold community days where you can visit their bases and see the vehicles and the stations they operate from.
Often there will be fun children’s activities to take part in so always try to attend these wherever possible to help your child become familiar with the emergency services in real life.
Our Stepping Stone (SA) Childcare & Early Development Centres in Adelaide frequently organise visits to our centres from our local first responders, which the children not only find extremely insightful but also have a fantastic time engaging with and learning about these services.
Why should you teach your child what to do in an emergency?
It’s really important that children are aware that emergencies can happen, and that they possess the knowledge about what they can do to help when one occurs.
Teaching your child what to do in an emergency is not designed to create fear, but instead to equip them with the skills that they need to potentially save lives.
If children know what to do they are far less likely to be scared or panic, and will be much better equipped to confidently act and call for help.
5 steps to teach your child to call 000
Step 1: Learn to identify an emergency
Your child needs to be able to understand the word ‘emergency’, what it means and what counts as an emergency. This will help them to know when they need to call 000.
Speak to your child about the different types of emergency. The main ideas to get across to your child include:
- An emergency is a dangerous situation
- An emergency requires someone to take quick action
- Acting quickly and efficiently in an emergency can stop something bad happening.
Some of the emergencies that you might discuss with your children are:
- An accident or a crime taking place
- Somebody being suddenly injured
- Somebody becoming unwell
You can talk to your child about which emergency services might be needed in each type of emergency. Many parents and caregivers use board games or flash cards to turn this into a child friendly game.
Step 2: Ensure your child can use a phone
If you have a landline phone in your home you can show your child how to use this. However you’ll probably want to show them how to dial 000 on your mobile phone as they’ll be able to use this if you’re out and about.
You may also need to show them how to dial the emergency services on your mobile, even while the phone is locked. When showing your children how to dial 000, it is important to emphasise that this should ONLY be done in an emergency situation.
Make sure that they know which digits to press to dial the number, but also how to start the call itself. Some children may know how to enter the numbers but struggle to press the call button to actually dial out.
Step 3: Helping your child remember what number to call
We often refer to the number for the emergency services as ‘Triple Zero’ but it’s important that you check if your child knows what this actually means.
You may want to talk to them about calling ‘zero zero zero’ instead to avoid any confusion.
There are some great songs and online resources to help your child remember the emergency services number. You may also be able to find episodes of their favourite TV shows or storylines in their favourite book that involve Fire, Police and Ambulance Services.
Step 4: Learning your contact details
In order to make a life saving emergency call, your child will ideally need to know your address and phone number.
This is useful information for all children to know so make it a priority to teach your child as early as possible. Practice asking your child where they live and what their phone number is every day – repeating this as often as possible is the best way of ensuring that they learn it.
Remember to speak to your child about only giving out these details in an emergency. They should be aware that they shouldn’t give their address or phone number to people who they don’t know, but that in an emergency it’s OK to do so.
Step 5: Role play a 000 call
The best way to ensure that your child is as well equipped as possible to deal with making an emergency 000 call is to role play with them in a relaxed environment.
Take it in turns to be the call handler and the person making the emergency call so that your child feels familiar with both roles and what each of them involves.
Remind them how important it is that they speak loudly and clearly during the call so that all the details can be heard accurately.
If you have started to practice this kind of role play at home, always inform your child’s childcare or early education setting so that they can build on the work you have done. Your child may want to tell their peers what they have learnt and it could be incorporated into a group activity.
No one wants to think about their loved ones in an emergency situation. Being prepared however could save you or your child’s life so it’s essential that you teach them as much as possible about what to do in an emergency. If you want more help or information about teaching your child about making an emergency call, get in touch with your local emergency services. There are also lots of online resources such as the Triple Zero Kids Challenge to assist you in educating your children.
