If this article were a movie, I would get a writing credit and my wife, Hannah, would be executive producer. That is to say, it was her idea. It didn't come to her in a dream. It was more like a flash.

See, I was at work, sitting in my office reviewing officer's reports from the day before. The intercom clicked and I heard one of the communications officers say, "Hey, Sarge, your wife's on line 10." I said, "OK, thank you, Frank." There was a short pause, then the officer spoke up, "Sarge?! This is Angie." A click and she was gone. I knew it was Angie. She's young, naive and has no business associating with a bunch of knucklehead cops, like us. Anyway, with my attempt at humor floating in the ether, I thought I'd better get to my wife's call.

As I picked up the phone, I thought it a little odd that Hannah would be calling. I had only been at work for about an hour and I had left home as she and our boys, Grayson (3), Miles (2) and Lincoln (5mo) were in the kitchen, removing old wallpaper. Actually, Linc was in his bouncy seat, Gray was crawling around on the floor 'meowing' and Miles was pushing a little car on the walls, everywhere Mama was working. I try my best to take a mental picture before I leave scenes like that, because I know those will be my fondest memories as the boys grow up and I grow older.

I put the receiver to my ear and pushed line 10.

"Hey, Baby. What's up?"

"Dude, I got shocked!"

"What?"

"I got shocked."

"You mean surprised?"

"No, Jim. I got an electric shock, from the wall."

Now, my wife is as calm and patient as I am fidgety. She is not prone to flights of suspense and is, most certainly, not one to wring the drama out of an event. As a police officer, I work at a job where I may go from speaking to a small child about bicycle safety, to driving a hundred miles per hour to the scene of a horrendous crime. All in the span of two minutes. In those matters, professionalism and calm prevail. I have a job to do and can occupy my mind with scenarios, policies and training. However, when a loved-one calls and tells you they were nearly electrocuted, all that goes out the window. My mouth went instantly dry and I sprang to my feet like the President had just walked in.

"Baby, what happened? Are you OK? Are the boys OK?"

"Yep, we're all fine. I just hit the edge of an exposed outlet with the scraping tool and it sparked. But, I called you for something else."

Wow. If nearly being shocked to death in front of your children while removing wallpaper wasn't the main topic of the call, I was almost afraid to inquire further. But, I had to know.

"H, what in the world are you talking about?"

"I've got a good idea for your blog."

I sat down. Not so much because I felt tired or fatigued. It was not as voluntary as that. See, the lightness and sparklers in my head sent a direct order to my knees to take a break. If the chair had not remained directly behind me, the first words in this paragraph would have been, I fell down.

"Hannah, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. This accident just made me think. You should remind parents to teach their kids how to dial 911."

"That's a great idea. Thanks, Honey."

I finished the conversation with my wife, hung up the phone, walked to the restroom and vomited. I then went back to work, with the thought of Hannah's suggestion lingering. When I got home that evening, I kissed my wife and hugged my boys just a little longer than usual. Then I went to work on the following article.

Teaching Your Child To Dial 911
The Who, What, When, Where, How and Why.

Who:
There is no way I can attach an exact age to when a child might have the comprehension and dexterity necessary to dial a telephone. I would say, if your one year old can operate small toys and push the buttons on those noisy little cars and trucks, which occupy half my basement, he, or she, can dial a phone. Especially if that phone has speed dial capabilities. Let's face it, every phone since the one on Walton's Mountain has been equipped with this function. I'm not going to go into detail about how speed dial works. If you've never heard of it, I can't imagine it matters. You are, most probably, too busy being terrified by the space machine this article is being displayed from.

What:
You will need to make two important decisions here. First, teach your little person to use either your cellular or home phone to make the 911 call. If you are like me, you don't have a home phone. The second thing to consider is whether to teach them to manually dial 911 or to use a single speed dial button. I really have no opinion either way. The most important thing is to teach your child to use one type of phone and to dial it using one method. Why is this so important? Because, during a stressful event, a child, or adult for that matter, will revert back to their training. It becomes an almost automatic response.

When:
Your children need to know that the 911 system is for emergencies only. However, you don't want to press this so strongly that the child actually becomes too apprehensive to make a critical call. Remember, every second counts in an emergency. If you are on the ground, having difficulty breathing and losing consciousness, you don't want your three year old worrying that he is going to be in trouble if he uses the phone.

That brings me to another point. I have been a police officer for a very long time. During my career, I have responded to thousands of 911 emergency calls. Some of them "hot" and some of them a huge waste of time and resources. The thing they have in common is that someone must respond. I have never seen the parents of a youngster who dialed 911 in good faith be hauled before the court on charges of misusing the system. I've seen a few adults ticketed and have even taken a few to jail. However, this is rare and is usually the result of alcohol or drug use.

A child playing with the phone and dialing 911 for fun is a problem. If an officer has to respond to a false alarm once, he will usually speak to the parents, with the child present, and issue a verbal warning. A second time and the parents will, most likely, be issued paperwork in the form of a summons. A common sense approach to teaching a child what constitutes an emergency is vital. Just don't complicate it.

Where:
I believe your child should know where the telephones are located in your house, Grandma's house and anywhere else he or she might stay more than a few hours. I guarantee you, they already know where your cell phone is most often kept on your person, charger or desk. My kids are forever patting me down, looking for my phone. If your cell is anything like mine, you clean various liquids, sauces and dried chunks off it a couple times a week. My three year old can initiate the camera mode and snap rather well composed photos with no assistance. The next time I have a chicken bone in my throat, I'm counting on him.

How:
I finally get to use one of my favorite quotes in an article:

"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." -Vince Lombardi

Before you practice dialing 911 with your child, make sure the phone is un-plugged, de-batteried and unable to complete an actual call. You will need to make a few dry runs and you don't want them to be followed-up by a knock at the door and a peep-hole full of cop. Do not use a bunch of different types of phones or toy phones. Remember, when they are stressed, your kids will go on auto-pilot and do what they were taught. So, try to use the actual phones you have in the house and use daily. You don't want little Johnny to reach for his SpongeBob-Bathtub-Buddy-Phone when you've fallen down a well. Do they still make wells?

Also, let your child know what he might hear on the other end of the line after he dials 911. Most commonly, a dispatcher will say something like, "911, where is your emergency?" If your child simply utters his name, your name or the name of your street, it will be helpful. If not, the dispatcher should have the address displayed on a computer screen. The more interaction between the caller and dispatcher the better. We know that, sometimes, it just isn't going to happen with a scared child.

Why:
With the E911 system in place, your child doesn't even need to speak into the phone. When the call reaches the 911 center a computer screen displays the phone number and address from where the call is coming. When a cell phone is used, the call signal pings off the nearest tower. Cell towers are so prevalent it requires just a little triangulation to close in on an exact location.

So, there is really no reason you shouldn't introduce your child to the 911 emergency system. Life is the most precious thing we have and we should do everything in our power to save one.