Can my children dial 911 if I needed them to? I realized the answer was no and I had no back-up plan. I was pregnant with my third child and I stayed at home with my then 4 and 2 year old. My husband worked outside the home and traveled consistently and we had no local family. I often would think what if I developed a blood clot or started having issues with the baby and was unable to get to my phone? Or worst case scenario that I was unresponsive to even use the phone? Now that residential wall phones are nearly obsolete and so many are opting to discontinue their land lines; what is the emergency plan for our children who aren’t yet old enough to have their own phone?
Steps to dial 911 on a smartphone compared to a land line:
1. The child must locate the phone
2. Once the phone is found, the child might have to unlock it (it’s easy to swipe to an emergency keypad on the iPhone, but I am not familiar with other brands)
3. Next, the child must find the keypad, which may not be up on the screen
4. Once finding the keypad and dialing 911, they still need to press call or send
Here are a few things that will help you feel prepared.
- FREE PRINTABLE! Make sure your child memorizes your home address and phone number. Print this out and put it somewhere your child can see it often and practice, practice, practice!
- Smartphone Apps to help teach children to dial 911: DialSafe Pro and Teach 911
I sat down with my oldest child and practiced using DialSafe Pro. It was surprisingly interactive and provided an easy way for me to explain to him when it would be necessary to call 911. We talked a lot about what to do and if for any reason he could not find my phone then he was to run next door to our neighbors house where they both work from home. It’s nice to think that I would keep my phone in a constant location, but with three kids and a two-story home that’s just not possible. Ideally, I should have a land line for emergencies only. Between the additional costs and annoyance of marketing calls we just never hooked one up. I wonder if there are other families out there just like us?
Have you had an emergency where your child became a hero? I would love to hear what emergency plans you have put into place for your small children. Please share!
