Calling 000 – Triple Zero

Behind the scenes of your stress.

Hi I’m Wayne, KidzAid Regional Manager and Intensive Care Helicopter Paramedic. I have been working in the prehospital side of emergency care for nearly 14 years. I have been fortunate to have worked in a variety of different countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada. I’ve put together some points to try and alleviate your stress, when god forbid you ever need to make that dreaded call to 000. 

 

Have you ever needed to call 000 for an Ambulance?

Some common questions you may have

• Who do you speak to?
• What will they ask me?
• Do they know where I am?
• How long will an ambulance be?
• Will they stay on the phone to help me while the ambulance arrives?

From the moment you realise there is an emergency, please DON’T panic.

Every emergency situation is different, and people react in so many different ways, but calling 000 in a state of panic will only make it harder to pass on all the relevant information that is required.

The 4 Vital messages

1. Confirm who you are.
2. Confirm your phone number.
3. Your exact location.
4. Nature of the emergency.

Keep it brief

“Unresponsive Child….” or “Child not Breathing….”

Keep it brief, but telling a factual story DOES NOT delay an ambulance response, the inability to pass on information does! Once the 000 call taker has calmed you down, further information can then be gathered. Please be reassured that the 000 operator will stay on the line with you at all times, until the ambulance arrives.

Once the 4 Vital messages have been passed, your 000 call taker will read back and confirm what has been said, ensuring the accuracy of your information.

He/she will then immediately dispatch the information into a GPS guided system to pick up your location and communicate with the ambulance dispatch team. (This whole process only takes about 30 seconds).

Once the confirmed location has been updated, the ambulance dispatch team will have full access to the local area and find the closest ambulance to activate a response. Once again, this will only take up to 60 seconds.

Key points to remember:

• Stay calm.
• Do not hang up the phone, place the phone on speaker and work your way through DRSABCD and follow instructions from the 000 call taker. 
• If there is someone in the family that is not coping well with the situation, send them out and wait for the ambulance to arrive, this task will distract them and allow you to work through your DRSABCD action plan. 
• Be rest assured from the moment you say ‘unresponsive child’ the call taker has already dispatched a crew to your emergency and help is on the way.