Water safety education specialists Kids Alive have released a new ‘Call Triple Zero (000)’ song that takes young children through the steps needed to deal with an emergency.
Kids Alive Managing Director, Emma Lawrence said recent research suggests that there is a critical need to support Australia’s 2 million children aged 3-6 years to learn how to respond in an emergency event.
“In a recent survey only 14% of people were very confident that the children they know in the 3 to 6-year age group would understand that help is at hand by calling Triple Zero (000),” Ms Lawrence said. “The new Triple Zero (000)song uses repetition to teach kids to call Triple Zero (000)and reiterates how important learning CPR is for families.”
Queensland Ambulance Services (QAS) Clinical Director Alex Thompson, said the QAS received around 1 million emergency calls each year and while many young children were aware of the basic steps to take in an emergency situation, there was an obvious gap in knowledge for the majority of children.
“In Queensland, we receive around 3000 emergency calls a day,” Mr Thompson said. “If children know to call Triple Zero (000)and what kind of information they might need to provide to emergency services, they are much more likely to stay calm in an emergency and take the appropriate action.”
Sharon Williams knows the importance of teaching children how to handle an emergency after her daughter Charli 10 had to call an ambulance and perform CPR after she collapsed at home.
“I taught Charli about calling 000 from a young age,” Sharon said. “I don’t remember specifically when we started talking about what to do in an emergency but it’s something she knew how to handle. Kids need to know how to dial 000 but just as important they also need to know their address so they can tell an ambulance or emergency service where to come.”
“I think the earlier kids can learn what to do the better, and in my case teaching Charli ended up saving my life.”
Charli said a lot of her friends didn’t know what to do in an emergency.
“After it all happened and I went back to school my friends said they saw me on TV and how I had called 911 to save my Mum. I told them I didn’t call that number you call 000. I was so surprised they didn’t know the number.”
Ms Lawrence said with the swimming season starting on the first day of Spring, now was the perfect time for parents and carers to also be reminded about the necessity of learning CPR.
“Spring and summer are the peak seasons for water-based emergencies and drownings, and both adults and young children need to be prepared in the event of an emergency,” she said. “Statistics show even attempting CPR will have a dramatic impact on the outcome of an emergency, especially in a submersion scenario.”
“It’s never too early to get young children thinking about what they need to do in an emergency situation and the new Kids Alive Call Triple Zero (000) song is a fantastic way to get this message across.”
Emergency Service Departments around the country have committed to sharing the Call Triple Zero (000) song to ensure as many children as possible hear the song.
The new Call Triple Zero (000) song is available on Spotify or the Kids Alive Do The 5 You Tube channel.
