Teaching Your Child How to Call 911 with a Cell Phone (The Modern Way)

When we're faced with a real emergency, it suddenly becomes extremely difficult to act logically, think straight, and remember what we were taught. There are a number of facts we all should remember when calling 911. But, over the past 15 years things have changed a bit...

The ubiquity of cell phones has changed the way 911 calls are handled. Instead of immediately describing your situation, if you're calling from a cell phone you should first state your location.

First thing to say on a cell phone

When you call 911 call from a cell phone, your exact location and phone number should be the first words out of your mouth.

Why? Below we'll explain the differences between calling 911 with a cell phone vs a landline.

Changes in the way 911 calls are handled

Back in the good 'ol days of landlines, emergency services could quickly detect exactly where the call was coming from. However, with cell phones it isnt' so easy. Pinpointing the location of a cell phone call is much more difficult.

The public safety answering point that receives your 911 call will hopefully be able to pinpoint the nearest cell tower that is handling the phone call. But this does not give the emergency answering point a very exact or precise location. They can only tell that you are somewhere within the the nearest three towers.

Can my emergency phone call drop?

YES. An emergency 911 phone call is no different than a "normal" call for your wireless carrier. There may be drops, reception difficulty, caller ID mistakes, and outages.

If you first state your exact location, in concise detail, it doesn't matter what happens next, someone can be sent to help. Time is precious. Even the time it takes to call back can be the few moments separating tragedy and a miracle.

For more information about the differences between calling 911 on mobile vs landline, see this New York Times article.

But my cell phone has a GPS

True, your phone has a GPS. The public safety answering point cannot simply "access" your GPS when you call 911. The answering point's best technology is cell-phone triangulation, which can be all over the map.

How GPS actually works

GPS satellites transmit signals. These signals are received by GPS devices, like cell phones. The GPS satellite that sent the signal does not receive information from the phone that intercepted the signal. No information whatsoever is sent back to the satellite.

The device that received a GPS must independently send this information somewhere.

Think of it this way: Your phone can tell you where you are. On its own, or through an emergency call, it cannot tell someone else where you are.

Don't complain too much, this could turn into a huge privacy issue!

What should you teach your child to say?

When you teach your child how and when to call 911, don't just teach them to memorize the numbers to call. Teach them to call 911 and then state, "I'm calling from ____."

What should you teach your child to say?

Emergency situations cause everyone to panic and think differently. Back when there were only landlines, it was easy to advise parents to post 911 instructions by the phone. However, many modern homes no longer have a wired telephone.

It is still a good idea to post very clear emergency instructions in a central location in your home. In crises we often forget the most basic information. Just because your child has memorized "911" doesn't mean you have a full-proof system.

Effective communication in emergency situations

Let's bust one more myth. Traditionally, in a public situation, you're told to shout, "someone call 911!"

This is far less effective than saying, "Hey you, [Person 1], call 911... You, [Person 2], go find the first aid kit." And so on.

When should I teach my child to call 911?

Somewhere around the age of 4. It is very important to make sure your child knows that this is not a game. Make sure to spend time rehearsing a 911 dialing scenario. Just like studying the answers for a test, knowing the right answer only gets you so far if you are unable to take action.

When should I tell my child to dial 911?

To prevent dialing 911 by accident (when children are very young), teach the following scenarios with modifications as needed:

1. If Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, or Grandma tells you to.
2. If Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, or another adult passes out and you can't wake him or her up.
3. If there is fire and you don't see any adults.
4. If there is an accident and it looks like people are hurt.