Thursday

A good lesson

A teaching moment doesn't always come along on the drive to school. Yes, I play the song Happy on repeat so my daughter can practice singing it for graduation. And yes, the Reading Rainbow app is in heavy rotation in the car. But this morning I was able to teach the kids several lessons, as we drove to school.

It was a good morning, we had plenty of time to get to school. We were probably 5-6 blocks away and the doors hadn't even opened yet. So that is good. When I drive by a man (sitting in the street) and a hysterical woman. I looked at what time it was and pulled over. The kids were deeply in trenched in Star Wars Angry birds, so I turned on my hazards and walked over to the man. 

He had just been hit by a car, and the hysterical woman was the driver. I assessed the situation, asked him vital questions: age, what happened, where is there pain, bleeding, did you black out (which are the questions that the 911 operator will ask you) and then called 911. The man was in good spirits, I think his arm was broken which in the grand scheme of things was pretty good. The driver on the other hand was having a full on panic attack. She had gone back into her car, and I tried to comfort her while having her teenage daughter stand guard to make sure the guy didn't fall or get hit by another car.

Soon, a fire engine arrived and I told them that they should send a guy to take a look at the driver, since she was in pretty bad condition herself. I wished the man good luck, and headed back to school. 

I told my kids, what I did. And that the man was OK and safe now. And explained to them what 9-1-1 is, and how it works. I think the underlying learning moment was, if there is someone who needs your help and you can, you should.

FYI - we got to school before the doors closed.

Some of the questions that a 911 operator will ask you*
  • Where are you calling from (town, borough, cross streets)?
  • What is your emergency?
  • Male or Female?
  • Age?
  • Is the victim breathing?
  • Is there any bleeding?
  • Did they black out?
  • Your phone number

*at least in NYC

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