Your department's community outreach efforts should include teaching children how to contact the emergency services when needed.

During visits to schools, you should go over how to them to push "9-1-1," but you must also stress how it must be followed by pressing the "call" or "send" button if it's a cell phone. You can practice on a cell phone that is switched off.

You should also remind them that they will need to remain on the line after calling 9-1-1, and not just hang up. It helps if they have an understanding of their location, too, even though enhanced technologies means cell phones can often be located without a location being specified.