........
During my 7 years of teaching swimming I was constantly surprised at the number of kids who don't know what to do in an emergency. Even the ones that knew the number didn't know what to do with it. So, just a friendly reminder to teach your kids what they need to tell the operator. This will help them in an emergency, because if they've done practice runs with you, they'll be more likely to remain calm in a real emergency....
5 things:
1. name
2. Address (you'd be surprised how many kids didn't know this without a parent prompting!)
3. What the emergency is......also, you can play "is this an emergency??" with little kids (aka GOOFY, get-them-giggling/engaged impressions of injuries "ouch ouch I fell of the jungle gym and broke my arm, oh no!!!! can mommy drive me to the hospital or should you call an ambulance?" "AHHHH there's a fire in the FIREPLACE!!!!! Should we call 911?" etc so they can recognize when 911 is necessary....)
for older kids:
4. what do you need (ambulance, fire, police)
5. Always get an ETA (estimated time of arrival) so you know how long you'll be on your own....
I'm sure you all have already taught your kids the basics, but it never hurts to repeat the lessons, or check how confident they are in the knowledge.
You never know what can happen. Best to be prepared (I sound like a boyscout lol)
During my 7 years of teaching swimming I was constantly surprised at the number of kids who don't know what to do in an emergency. Even the ones that knew the number didn't know what to do with it. So, just a friendly reminder to teach your kids what they need to tell the operator. This will help them in an emergency, because if they've done practice runs with you, they'll be more likely to remain calm in a real emergency....
5 things:
1. name
2. Address (you'd be surprised how many kids didn't know this without a parent prompting!)
3. What the emergency is......also, you can play "is this an emergency??" with little kids (aka GOOFY, get-them-giggling/engaged impressions of injuries "ouch ouch I fell of the jungle gym and broke my arm, oh no!!!! can mommy drive me to the hospital or should you call an ambulance?" "AHHHH there's a fire in the FIREPLACE!!!!! Should we call 911?" etc so they can recognize when 911 is necessary....)
for older kids:
4. what do you need (ambulance, fire, police)
5. Always get an ETA (estimated time of arrival) so you know how long you'll be on your own....
I'm sure you all have already taught your kids the basics, but it never hurts to repeat the lessons, or check how confident they are in the knowledge.
You never know what can happen. Best to be prepared (I sound like a boyscout lol)