Help keep kids safe: 5 ways to prepare them to handle emergencies

It’s hard to know how to handle emergencies when kids are involved. That’s why creating family emergency safety plans and teaching kids the basics of how to get help is essential in keeping them safe.

As a parent, there are plenty of things you can do to prep your kids for an emergency, including practicing “what-if” scenarios, learning local emergency phone numbers, and using digital devices like the Greenlight Safe Family§ screen-free GPS tracker.

Feel confident in your kids’ safety—and your ability to stay connected—with these guidelines to help keep kids safe in emergencies.

1. Teach kids how to respond in an emergency

Just like the police, fire department, military, and medical professionals, families can rehearse emergency situations, so kids know how to respond.

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When prepping kids to handle emergency safety, consider teaching them the following:

• Know who to call: Memorize phone numbers for local emergency services and safe adults. Practice dialing on landlines and smartphones, as well as how to dial emergency numbers from a locked smartphone.

• Know where to go: Talk to your kids about safe places during an emergency. Establish a rendezvous spot in case of a house fire or designate a safe place to ride out a tornado. Discuss when it may be best to stay in one place, such as being lost in the woods, so that grown-ups can find you.

• Make it a game: Kids learn through play, and having fun can help balance the seriousness of the topic when you practice how to handle emergency scenarios. Trade off being the helpers, so kids get to act out being both the firefighter and the person calling for help.

No one likes to think about possible emergencies, but confidence increases when you repeat the scenario long before you ever may experience it.

2. Use simple, easy-to-access communication tools

Don’t overthink communication tools for emergency prep. For many urgent situations, like extreme weather or potential medical events, ordinary cell phones will work. Many cell phones come with default Wi-Fi, cellular data, and GPS connections. Some even come with radios or satellite service. Make sure all members of the family know how to use these phones in an emergency.

Some devices, like Greenlight Safe Family§, also enable precise GPS-location tracking and SOS alerts. You’ll get access to real-time location updates to keep you in the loop.

Walkie-talkies and other radios offer a device-to-device connection for short-range contact in the event phone service is interrupted during an emergency. If you live in an area where high winds or power outages often interrupt phone service, consider adding radio communication devices to your family’s emergency safety plan.

3. Make sure your child can share their location quickly

In the event of a separation, make sure your child can share their location. Some digital tools feature a one-tap SOS button that will send you an alert and the device’s location the moment your child realizes they are lost. Other devices simply share real-time GPS locations continuously, meaning you’re just a moment away from tracking them down on a map.

Whether your child is walking home alone from school, attending an out-of-town sporting event, or traveling on vacation with you to crowded areas, family location sharing is important. In the event of a local emergency or if they become lost, digital contact will reunite your family faster.

4. Equip kids with reliable identification

You can keep track of each other and increase your chances of being reunited quickly when you equip your kids with reliable identification. Especially while traveling or visiting crowded places, using ID tags, bracelets, cards with their name, emergency contact number, and any essential medical information can prevent serious separations.

Documenting name and contact information in an easily accessible place is important for young kids who may not be able to remember phone numbers. It’s also ideal when traveling to a place with a different local language.

Consider engraved bracelets, luggage tags in coats or pockets, or even digital options such as labeled Bluetooth trackers or printed QR codes.

5. Choose tools designed for real emergencies—not just convenience

For some families, relying on a cellphone with an app like Greenlight that shares location and offers a broad range of communication during emergencies adds a safety layer. But for others, purpose-built safety devices may fill in the gaps during urgent situations.

When choosing a safety device for your family, be sure to evaluate:

• Battery life: A cell phone’s charge often lasts about a day with typical use. This simply may not be enough to endure during an emergency like a hurricane. Purpose-built safety devices often have intentionally lengthy battery lives and can perform fewer tasks to extend usage time.

• Reliability: Depending on Bluetooth trackers to locate belongings, kids, or pets may not offer the reliability needed during an urgent situation where they stray far from the network or the network itself is compromised. Purpose-built safety devices, however, often have their own GPS-enabled location-sharing function, so they bypass unreliable third-party network connections when you need to track your child's location.

• Ease of use: Dialing 911 may be simple for older kids and adults on a phone, but for young kids, the elderly, or pets, phones won’t be easy to use. Instead, families can benefit from a one-button or always-on GPS location device to keep track of the vulnerable when things become urgent.

Designed with these factors in mind, Greenlight Safe Family’s GPS safety device for kids is simple, fast, and parent-trusted§. With a 30-day battery life, GPS connection, and built-in SOS button, families can stay connected through any emergency.

Take the next step in family safety and security

You can’t stop emergencies from happening, but you can follow family emergency plan tips and pre-download child safety apps in preparation. Your family's safety is your top priority. Feel confident in protecting it with Greenlight Infinity.

§The Greenlight Safe Family device, for Kids, Seniors, or Pets, requires the purchase of the device and a monthly data plan for connectivity. Existing Greenlight customers must be on Core, Max, Infinity or Family Shield plans to use the device. Device is not available for use with Select or Greenlight+Invest plans. See Terms for more details.