9-1-1 Education Program

Red River Regional Dispatch Center offers a 9-1-1 Education program to teach children about how to effectively call 9-1-1. This program also educates them about when it would be appropriate to call 9-1-1 and when they should call the non-emergent number.

RRRDC started the program in 2005 after some extensive research to see what kind of learning tools were available for kids. Our choice was a program called “9-1-1 for Kids” starring a puppet figure named Red E. Fox. This program is endorsed by all federal public safety communication organizations and is the nation's official education program teaching the proper use of 9-1-1. It originated in 1995 and has been used to teach over 2 million kids about 9-1-1. RRRDC has been to 20 different schools and given this presentation to over 3,000 kids. It has been well received by both the schools and the kids.

• The program is directed toward second graders.

  Our focus is to educate them on the importance of knowing their address and phone number.

  The children are taught what they can do to protect themselves until help arrives and what kind of information we may ask of them.

  The average class lasts approximately 45 minutes.

  The 9-1-1 Education class starts with the instructors introducing themselves and who they work for. The word “dispatch” and what it entails is explained to the children.

  A 20 minute video is then played for them. They are told prior to watching the video that a trivia game will be played afterwards.

  The video explains how to call 9-1-1, has a fun interactive quiz show, takes them to a dispatch center where they get to do a pretend 9-1-1 call and then shows them pictures of real life children who have had to call 9-1-1 for real emergencies.

  Once the video is done we show and explain hand outs which are given to the teacher to distribute at a later time.

  A 15 minute trivia game is then played to test their knowledge on the contents of the video. There is a list of short scenarios where they are asked if they should call 9-1-1 or not. Vital information is shared with the students during these questions.

  Children also learn how to give helpful descriptions during an interactive exercise where a child is chosen from the class and described by their peers.

  They are given 10-15 minutes for open discussion and questions they might have.

  At the conclusion of class, each child is rewarded with a 9-1-1 pencil for becoming a newly inducted 9-1-1 Super Hero.

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