The holidays soon will be upon us, and for many children, this time of year means spending much more time at home alone or with a caregiver while they’re out for winter break. Faced with a real-life emergency, how confident are you that your child would know how to properly respond? Take some time today to prepare your child for those unexpected events that could arise tomorrow, particularly during the busiest of times like the holidays.

Most school-age children are taught in class very early about the purpose of 9-1-1, and local fire rescue teams will frequently visit elementary schools to reinforce the importance of fire safety. While these can be helpful drills and fun exercises, it’s your job as a parent to make certain that your child would know how to react if such a thing actually occurred at home or while your child was staying at a friend’s house. Here are some helpful pointers to better prepare your children and their caregivers for an emergency.

• Train Children on Proper Use of the Phone
  Teach children as early as you can how to use the telephone, the importance of memorizing emergency numbers and of course, that it is wrong to make prank calls to the emergency number and the consequences if they do.
  
•  Prepare General Contact Info for Your Child or Caregiver
  Provide for your child a notebook next to the phone or located in a safe, familiar place inside the home with the parents’ names, address, nearest cross street, home phone number and parents’ cell numbers. (Do something similar for your car, leaving a small notebook in the glove compartment, but be sure your child knows its location in case of an auto emergency in which the two of you are alone or stranded.)
• Show Your Kids How to Respond to Dispatcher Questions
  Make it clear that it’s okay to not understand a question and encourage them to ask the dispatcher to explain if they’re not sure what’s being asked of them. Stress the importance of following dispatcher instructions exactly. And most important of all, teach your child never to hang up on an emergency dispatcher unless they tell them to do so!
• Educate Your Child and Caregiver about Any of the Child’s Medical Conditions
  Children should know the name of any condition they may have or be able to name medications they are taking, particularly if they suffer from any special allergies or diabetes. A dispatcher may ask for this information from the child or caregiver if the emergency call is regarding the child’s condition.
• Release Your Child from Any Shame, Guilt or Blame Now
  If an accident has occurred at the home and it was caused by the child, he or she may feel guilty and reluctant to report it. Reinforce now that if something should ever happen, even if it’s an accident caused by a mistake, it’s important to do what you can to help make it better and to ask for help if you need it.