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Post by AussieMeg on Jun 12, 2024 23:41:46 GMT
Oh, the poor little poppet! What a scary experience for her.
We still had a landline when my kids were little, and they knew how to call 000 in the case of an emergency. As I don't have young kids anymore, it hadn't occurred to me that they would need to be shown how to access the emergency services on a locked phone these days. I should raise this topic with friends who have young grandchildren (and my dad's partner who has 1yo and 4yo grandchildren).
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Post by gar on Jun 13, 2024 7:42:09 GMT
Oh, the poor little poppet! What a scary experience for her. We still had a landline when my kids were little, and they knew how to call 000 in the case of an emergency. As I don't have young kids anymore, it hadn't occurred to me that they would need to be shown how to access the emergency services on a locked phone these days. I should raise this topic with friends who have young grandchildren (and my dad's partner who has 1yo and 4yo grandchildren). I am going to mention it to my DD. Her eldest is 7 and certainly knows all about calling emergency services, their address etc but I'm not certain he knows how to either unlock her phone or how to get to the emergency button. |
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Post by gillyp on Jun 13, 2024 8:30:40 GMT
Thanks to this thread I checked with my DIL about the DGDs who are older than that little girl. I knew they knew what to do but didn’t know if there was a land line at their house - we don’t have one - or if they knew about emergency calling on mobiles. The thread is a useful lesson/reminder for some of us, I think, thank you.
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Post by Lexica on Jun 13, 2024 10:03:44 GMT
Just an FYI, if you have an older cellphone, you can keep it charged in a specific location and teach small children how to use it. Dialing emergency services does not require the cellphone to have an active account. That makes it easier for a child to use in an emergency without fear that they are too young for their own phone. No other calls can be made from the phone.
I used to collect old cell phones from friends and my office when they updated all the managers with new phones. I donated them to a local facility for abused women. As long as the phone has battery, it can be used to call 911 (in the USA. I am not positive if it works in other countries. I would think so, but check to be sure). Having access to be able to call the police on a phone their abuser was not aware they had could possibly save their life.
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TankTop
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1,871
Posts: 4,839
Location: On the couch...
Jun 28, 2014 1:52:46 GMT
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Post by TankTop on Jun 13, 2024 12:19:54 GMT
I lived this several years ago as a teacher.
My student did not have a landline. Moms phone was locked and she did not know how to reach anyone with it.
She thought mom was sleeping and not feeling well.
She tried to contact grandma with an app on her tablet, but it was not seen until later.
So, she did what all little good girls and boys would do… she got herself to school. As soon as I saw her I noticed her hair was down and not Intricately braided like mom usually did. When I mentioned it she told me mom was sick and did not wake up this morning so she did it herself.
I contacted our resource officer and front office. After a well check and contacting an emergency number it was discovered mom had passed.
Please make sure all children and adults in your life know how to make an emergency call from a locked phone.
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Post by Lexica on Jun 13, 2024 16:01:51 GMT
I lived this several years ago as a teacher. My student did not have a landline. Moms phone was locked and she did not know how to reach anyone with it. She thought mom was sleeping and not feeling well. She tried to contact grandma with an app on her tablet, but it was not seen until later. So, she did what all little good girls and boys would do… she got herself to school. As soon as I saw her I noticed her hair was down and not Intricately braided like mom usually did. When I mentioned it she told me mom was sick and did not wake up this morning so she did it herself. I contacted our resource officer and front office. After a well check and contacting an emergency number it was discovered mom had passed. Please make sure all children and adults in your life know how to make an emergency call from a locked phone. This breaks my heart for that child. The memory that she had to grow up with, and as they get older, possibly wondering if they had done something different whether it would have made any difference with the outcome. I hope she had an involved father or other family members to be there for her. She was also fortunate to have you as a teacher to notice she wasn’t her usual tidy self and to notify your office right away. And as stated in my FYI above, you don’t need to teach a child how to unlock a cell phone if you have an older phone around. Any old phone does not need to have a service contract to make an emergency call. As long as you keep it charged up, you don’t need to worry about locking it because the only call it is capable of making is to 911. If I were doing it with today’s technology, in addition to teaching my child I would go ahead and write out easy instructions and tape it to wherever the cell phone is to be kept plugged in. There is a limitation with using an old phone like this though. Since an old phone is not on a contract, there would be no name/address associated with the phone number so if the child hangs up, there is no way for the authorities to trace the call. You would have to impress upon the child to stay talking to the operator and not to hang up the phone. |
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Post by marmargirl on Jun 13, 2024 16:52:03 GMT
I lived this several years ago as a teacher. My student did not have a landline. Moms phone was locked and she did not know how to reach anyone with it. She thought mom was sleeping and not feeling well. She tried to contact grandma with an app on her tablet, but it was not seen until later. So, she did what all little good girls and boys would do… she got herself to school. As soon as I saw her I noticed her hair was down and not Intricately braided like mom usually did. When I mentioned it she told me mom was sick and did not wake up this morning so she did it herself. I contacted our resource officer and front office. After a well check and contacting an emergency number it was discovered mom had passed. Please make sure all children and adults in your life know how to make an emergency call from a locked phone. Oh, that poor, sweet little girl. 💔 |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jun 13, 2024 17:50:00 GMT
Jesus Christ, she's FIVE. Maybe she didn't know how to unlock the phone or that you can make an emergency call? Maybe she thought Mom was sleeping and would get up eventually, and when she didn't, went to get help? Maybe she's got a developmental delay? Maybe she doesn't know any other trusted adults? Maybe she was so scared she wasn't sure what to do? Maybe Mom passes out on the regular and this is the poor kid's norm? Hopefully she knows now. The Internet is rough, man... Look at who the poster was. I agree hero wouldn't be the word I would choose but she was certainly brave. Some people haven't spent much time with 5 year olds and that is pretty apparent. 5 year olds are all over the place with reading ability, social maturity, emotional maturity, coping skills, problem solving skills, etc. I know some 5 year olds you could trust to read a recipe and cook a decent meal. I know 5 year olds who are delightful children who seemingly can't use a door knob. 3-6 year old kids are all over the place developmentally. Hence Kindergarten/Pre-k classrooms being like the wild West. Hey at least tag me if you're going to throw shade. I'm sorry she went through what she did, but it doesn't change the facts. My kids knew how to call for help well well before 5. I see this as a PSA and reminder more than anything. Don't traumatize your kids, by not letting them know what to do in an emergency. |
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Post by melanell on Jun 13, 2024 20:34:08 GMT
That's what I'm saying... I'm surprised she wouldn't have been taught that by her age. What she did was fantastic but it's too bad she wasn't equipped to have gotten her mom help sooner and minimize what certainly was a traumatic experience for her. She may very well have been taught at some point, but didn't remember in the moment. I think a lot of times we teach kids important things, but we don't always remember that with skills that they don't repeat every day, they need refreshers every so often. Also, even some adults find that they freeze up or forget things in an emergency, and this was just a tired little girl. Her teachers may have been the one other person she knew how to find and when they could be found. |
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jun 14, 2024 19:57:25 GMT
I learned the hard way that calling 911 with a cell phone is not always the answer. It was an emergency, but fortunately not life threatening, but great loss of property for three of my immediate neighbors.
Teen neighbor across the breezeway knocked on my door in tears with water pouring out of their apartment as well as from above. I dial 911, gave my address and where the problem was and I was told that I had reached the state police and they needed the full address again. What?
Yes they did switch my call to the local police but the delay was very unwelcome with water flowing threw three floors of apartments.
Never had that experience. The only time I had called 911 directly was on the road in another town/county and the call went directly to the local police to report two motor vehicle accidents.
This/my town has had an active 911 dispatch center since around 1990. A township with 8 sections with separate town names, all duplicate streets were renamed before then. Locally it is not necessary to say what section/town you are in.. the address is enough to get help.
But seems not to be so with a cell phone. I now have my phone programed '911 PD call' with the regular police non-emergency phone number.
All that to say 911 alone would not help me here...
ETA: kids must learn their address ASAP, also names last and hopefully first names, not mommy and daddy.
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