Today, for kids' safety, I'd like to address how to use 911 -- not only how, but when. Teaching your children when to use 911 is an invaluable tool. They need to know all the different types of scenarios that would require someone to call 911. They may need to do that someday. The fire, obviously, is an example. Any type of a medical situation; any type of a breaking and entering, a burglary. If you walk in on it and you see that your house has been burglarized, not touch anything, but to escape right away, because you don't know if the person would be still in the house or if they're long gone. And also you just need to leave the situation or leave the scene so that the police can come and do their investigation. Practicing using 911 is important. Obviously, you would need to use some type of a cell phone turned off type of a situation where the kids, especially if they're younger, to practice the use of 911. Also important to teach your children to know what would the 911 operator say when they receive the phone call. They're going to ask, "What type of a situation or emergency is there?" And they're going to ask, "Where are you?" If they're at the house, they're going to need to know their address. If they're on the cell phone, they're going to be able to describe to the emergency operator where they're at. Maybe they're in the car on this kind of a road or maybe they're at this store or maybe they're at home. You don't want to scare your children, but you also need to just occasionally bring up the topic and talk about, "Well, this is what you would say. This is what they're looking for." The information is important so that you can get help to them as quickly as possible. So, using 911 is a vital tool in helping to keep yourself safe.
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