Child caller helps spread positive message

Six-year-old Winnie Johnson has used a frightening family experience to help teach her Year 1 class about what to do in an emergency, Madolyn Sushames writes.

On Valentine’s Day (14 February) this year Winnie’s mum Leah started experiencing chest pains after picking her up from school.

“I told Winnie I was feeling terrible and went to the lounge and said she had to call a doctor, so she grabbed my phone and I asked her to call Triple Zero and ask for an ambulance and Winnie took it from there,” Leah said.

“She spoke on the phone to the lovely ambulance lady and helped her with our address and what was happening with mummy.

“It was pretty eventful for Winnie, she was pretty brave and I’m very, very proud of her.”

Winnie not only organised help for Leah but made sure she and her younger siblings were cared for as well.

Responding paramedic Amanda Te Momo said Winnie showed maturity well beyond her years to do that.

“She stayed really calm on the phone, helped us get in through the lock on the gate, she gathered up some things to take to hospital, she was amazing, just 100 per cent calm the whole time,” Amanda said.

Winnie giving Amanda and Jacob the drawings she did for them.

Amanda and partner Jacob presented Winnie with a Bravery Award in front of her Year 1 class and used it as an opportunity to talk to the little students about what to do in an emergency.

“It’s not something we get to do very often, so it was great to be able to acknowledge her in front of her peers,” Amanda said.

“It was also great for her to be able to share that experience and demonstrate calling Triple Zero (000) is not something to fear and that we are there to help them if needed.

“The kids were really engaged and asked lots of questions.

“It’s so beneficial for them as they may never have heard that information before.

“Now they can go home and talk to their parents about it and develop that skill so if they are ever faced with an emergency, they feel confident to call Triple Zero (000).”

Amanda’s biggest tip is for parents to ensure their kids know their address and phone number if they ever need to call for help.

“You can act it out using a script on the Triple Zero Kids Challenge website (developed for Australian families) where the parent pretends to be the call taker and the kids answer the questions,” she said.

“Talk to them about situations where they may need to phone Triple Zero and give examples of these. It’s also really important to show them how to dial Triple Zero if the phone has a passcode.”

Winnie also had a little present for the crew – a picture and hand-drawn logbook so they can keep track of their incidents.

Winnie showing her class her bravery award

“We don’t get a lot of insight into what happens with our patients after we transport them to the hospital so to see Leah well was great, as was seeing how happy Winnie was to see us again,” Amanda said.

“It was lovely also when she presented us with a special drawing she had made.”

Mum Leah has since recovered from hospital-acquired pneumonia.

She said she had never talked to her children about having to call an ambulance until she needed one herself and hoped sharing their story would encourage other families to have this important conversation.

“I think it’s vital for families maybe if they’re ever in that situation maybe that they know and understand what to do so I’m glad in a way that this happened to me because it could be saving someone else’s life one day,” Leah said.