Educating Teens on 9-1-1 Awareness

Cell Phone Sally has proven to be a great resource and mascot for teaching children about 9-1-1 emergency services. While Cell Phone Sally is appealing to small children, she is not always the best choice for education when it comes to high school students. Educating high school or even middle school kids can serve as somewhat of a challenge because you want them to understand the information and retain it. But what teenager wants to learn about 9-1-1?

Joe Thompson of Huntingdon County 9-1-1 spoke with several different entities across the United States to formulate some ideas on how to teach emergency services information to teenagers. What he came up with has turned into a successful endeavor so he wanted to share it with other educators.

Huntingdon County 9-1-1 teamed up with Huntingdon Borough Police and PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) to present programs on “9-1-1 Awareness and Teen Injury Prevention” to students in grades 9th through 12th.

“The 9-1-1 awareness portion of the presentation was a brief PowerPoint on what teens need to know about 9-1-1,” Joe said. “It was specifically designed for a teen audience which is arguably the most difficult age group to address.”

After speaking about 9-1-1, Joe said the Huntingdon Borough Police School Resource Officer then spoke briefly to the teens about a law in Pennsylvania called the 9-1-1 Good Samaritan Law. This law was created for when teens call for emergency medical help for another teen when the use of drugs or alcohol is involved. After the Resource Officer spoke, Joe introduced the distracted driving simulator portion of the presentation. During this time, the kids were able to see just how difficult it is to text and drive without hitting common obstacles you would find on the road.

“The students were really engaged. I made sure my presentation was short and fast-moving with points I thought teens could follow about 9-1-1.” Joe said. “The kids each watched and used the simulator. It went really well.”

If you are interested in more information on Joe’s program, you can contact him at jthompson911@hotmail.com. Below you can find local news stories that covered the presentation. Do you have a successful public education program in your area? Share it with Cell Phone Sally and we will share it with the blog world!

To check out the news coverage: http://911routes.com/huntingdoncounty911

Local Newspaper Article:

 

2014 Resolutions from Cell Phone Sally!

A New Year means a New YOU! When it comes to knowledge of emergency services, you can never be too prepared. That’s why Cell Phone Sally has put some tips together to start and continue your 2014 off on the right track!

Tips for a Successful Safe and Healthy 2014:

·         Always Know Your Location. The easiest way to do this is to be aware of your surroundings. Look for street names, landmarks and anything else that might help a 9-1-1 operator find where you are during an emergency.

·         Teach Kids to Dial 9 out first before dialing 9-1-1 when at a hotel or business location. Most children (and adults!) do not know they need to dial 9 before they can dial an outside number so make sure you explain this to your kids in case an emergency happens away from the home.

·         Be prepared for any emergency. Do you have an emergency plan in place for your family? If you don’t, now is the time to make a plan. Visit www.ready.gov for all the ins and outs on disaster preparedness!

·          Be aware of unsafe products and recalls. Keep your family safe from potentially dangerous products. You can find out about unsafe products here: http://www.cpsc.gov/

·         Get Involved in Health and Wellness! It is important to keep your family healthy and a great website for ideas on staying fit is right here: http://health.discovery.com/

·         Know the number to Poison Control Services! Not sure if you can mix certain medications? Having an allergic reaction to something and not sure if you should go to the emergency room? Get bit by a spider and not sure if it is poisonous? All of these questions can get answered and more- fee of charge! So memorize this number: 1-800-222-1222. Visit their website here: http://www.poisoncontrol.org/

These are just a few tips to make your new year the best it can be! And as always, remember- if you are ever in an emergency situation and need help, please do not hesitate to dial 9-1-1!