Victoria’s triple zero service is urging parents and carers to include children as young as three and four-years of age in their safety plans, including teaching them how to call 000 in a life-threatening emergency says ESTA the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority.
ESTA’s CEO Julia Oxley said it’s important for children to take an active role in their own safety and have information about what to do in an emergency and when to call triple zero.
“Knowing how to call triple zero can reduce anxiety felt by children when faced with a safety or emergency situation,” she said. “It is also extremely important to teach your little ones to say their address. Our expert operators can get police, fire or ambulance help on the way when we know where they are.”
Triple zero gets hundreds of calls each year from young Victorians, some as young as three years old. Families can practice when and how to call 000 with the online simulation game at http://kids.triplezero.gov.au/
“We tell parents and carers the life a child might save could be yours,” Ms Oxley said.
ESTA provides the critical link between the Victorian community and the state’s emergency services agencies. It provides Victoria’s 24-hour emergency call-taking and dispatch services for police, fire, ambulance and for the VICSES storm and flood line 132 500 .
ESTA takes more than 2.4 million calls for assistance a year; on average a call every 12 seconds. Always call triple zero if there is a threat to life or property.
