Would your 4-year-old be able to call 911 in an emergency?
By Roberta Cannon, RN
It is often newsworthy when young children call 911 for help for a parent or grandparent who experiences a medical emergency. As the grandparent of a 3-year-old grandson who is very conversational and inquisitive, I began wondering at what age he could help me if I needed him to call for help during one of our visits.
“I think four years old is the earliest you could teach children how to call 911,” said Jevon Plunkett-Rondeau, MD, PhD, a Cape Cod Hospital pediatric hospitalist. “I think a lot of 4-year-olds could, but some may not be able to do it. You would need to teach them how to get past the cell phone locks and how to access 911 on your cell phone. Most cell phones will permit calling for emergency help even when it is locked.”
According to the American Heart Association, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) claims nearly 350,000 lives in the United States every year and the survival rate is less than 12 percent. Seventy percent of those cardiac arrests occur in homes.
The AHA noted that bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) increases the survival rate by two to three times.
“The earlier you can engage professional rescuers, the better the outcomes are,” said Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau.
Teaching Kids How to CallA recent study was published in June 2023 by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation in collaboration with the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council titled “Kids Save Lives: Basic Life Support Education for Schoolchildren.”
The basis for this research was to review and identify best practices for teaching basic life support to school-age children, with the goal of increasing bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation rates.
The report stated that evidence showed young children and schoolchildren ages 4 to 15 can correctly assess consciousness and breathing after demonstration and hands-on practice. It also noted that children as young as 4 years old could be taught how to call for help.
Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau noted some ways you could teach 4-year-olds and young school-age children how to recognize an emergency and call 911:
Age-Appropriate TimelinesThe report noted children at age 6 were able to demonstrate how to dial an emergency number and give correct information about the emergency following training on how to do it.
Age-appropriate timelines and basic life support training are included in the report, along with the importance of including these training courses in school curriculums. It also stated that all schoolchildren should be trained in basic life support annually regardless of age. But Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau said older children are more capable of performing CPR.
“Starting CPR until paramedics arrive may be more suitable for a 12-15-year-old because it takes a great deal of physical strength and stamina to perform CPR,” she said. “Younger adolescents wouldn’t have the body strength to be effective with compressions.”
Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau also stressed the importance of teenagers knowing how and when to initiate the EMS system, as well as what they can do to help until EMS arrives.
“Unfortunately, with the world we live in today, it is important to recognize when a friend may be in trouble,” she said. “While these conversations can be hard, it may mean the difference between being alive and well or not.”
about the expertJevon Plunkett-Rondeau, MD, PhDJevon Plunkett-Rondeau, MD, PhD, is a pediatric hospitalist at Cape Cod Hospital and has been affiliated there since 2017. She has board certification from the American Board of Pediatrics. She attended Stanford University School of Medicine and did her residency in pediatrics at University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.
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Originally published on Cape Cod Health News, January 23, 2024
“I think four years old is the earliest you could teach children how to call 911,” said Jevon Plunkett-Rondeau, MD, PhD, a Cape Cod Hospital pediatric hospitalist. “I think a lot of 4-year-olds could, but some may not be able to do it. You would need to teach them how to get past the cell phone locks and how to access 911 on your cell phone. Most cell phones will permit calling for emergency help even when it is locked.”
According to the American Heart Association, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) claims nearly 350,000 lives in the United States every year and the survival rate is less than 12 percent. Seventy percent of those cardiac arrests occur in homes.
The AHA noted that bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) increases the survival rate by two to three times.
“The earlier you can engage professional rescuers, the better the outcomes are,” said Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau.
Teaching Kids How to CallA recent study was published in June 2023 by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation in collaboration with the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council titled “Kids Save Lives: Basic Life Support Education for Schoolchildren.”
The basis for this research was to review and identify best practices for teaching basic life support to school-age children, with the goal of increasing bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation rates.
The report stated that evidence showed young children and schoolchildren ages 4 to 15 can correctly assess consciousness and breathing after demonstration and hands-on practice. It also noted that children as young as 4 years old could be taught how to call for help.
Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau noted some ways you could teach 4-year-olds and young school-age children how to recognize an emergency and call 911:
- Talk with them about some signs they may notice when someone is not acting right, or something that seems abnormal to them.
- Explain the steps to take if they are worried about how mommy, the babysitter, or grandma is acting.
- Teach them how to start the process of calling EMS for help and show them how to call EMS on a cell phone or a landline if they have one.
- Tell them who they can contact for help, whether it is EMS, an employee if they are in a store, or a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic if they are at a public gathering.
- Practice the process.
Age-Appropriate TimelinesThe report noted children at age 6 were able to demonstrate how to dial an emergency number and give correct information about the emergency following training on how to do it.
Age-appropriate timelines and basic life support training are included in the report, along with the importance of including these training courses in school curriculums. It also stated that all schoolchildren should be trained in basic life support annually regardless of age. But Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau said older children are more capable of performing CPR.
“Starting CPR until paramedics arrive may be more suitable for a 12-15-year-old because it takes a great deal of physical strength and stamina to perform CPR,” she said. “Younger adolescents wouldn’t have the body strength to be effective with compressions.”
Dr. Plunkett-Rondeau also stressed the importance of teenagers knowing how and when to initiate the EMS system, as well as what they can do to help until EMS arrives.
“Unfortunately, with the world we live in today, it is important to recognize when a friend may be in trouble,” she said. “While these conversations can be hard, it may mean the difference between being alive and well or not.”
about the expertJevon Plunkett-Rondeau, MD, PhDJevon Plunkett-Rondeau, MD, PhD, is a pediatric hospitalist at Cape Cod Hospital and has been affiliated there since 2017. She has board certification from the American Board of Pediatrics. She attended Stanford University School of Medicine and did her residency in pediatrics at University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.
View Physician Profile
Originally published on Cape Cod Health News, January 23, 2024