2. Study Team
• Dr. Joelene Huber, Principal investigator, Developmental
Pediatrician
• Scott So , Mobile Application Developer, Computer Science
Student
• Thivia Jegathesan, Research Coordinator in Department of
Pediatrics
• Sarah Davis, Behavior Therapist
• Michelle Goodman, Research Assistant, Life Science Student
• Dr.Niraj Mistry, Co-investigator, Mobile Health Expert
• Dr.Elizabeth Young, Co-investigator, Developmental Pediatrician
• Dr.Douglas Campbell, Co-investigator, Director of Allan Walters
Simulation Centre, St.Michael’s Hospital
• Dr.Joey Bonifacio, Co-investigator, Adolescent Medicine
• Dr. Alex Mihalidis, Biomedical Engineer, Toronto Rehabilitation
Institute
Training children to recognize emergencies and dial 911 can save lives.
Children as young as three to four years of age are able to recognize emergencies and dial 911
Many children, however, do not know how to respond, if faced with an emergency situation, placing them at a significant safety risk.
Mobile Phones Replacing Landline Phones
-Personal mobile phones are rapidly replacing landline phone use.
-Children have been reported to be the largest new user groups of mobile technology, suggesting a transition from landline phone use to mobile phones (5).
-However due to the complexity of mobile devices compared to landline phones, children may not know how to bypass a pass-code and access the emergency call function on any mobile phone.
-Also, 911 dispatchers are unable to identify a location through a mobile phone call and would therefore require a child’s report of their address (7).-Dispatchers can no determine the precise location of a caller who dials 9-1-1 from any cell phone
-It is essential to stay on the line and give the location to the 911 call taker.
- Purpose to determine the effectiveness mobile apps vs. didactic teaching if emergency protocol
Didactic training does not include
Use of mobile phones
Simulated practice
Feedback
Needs of ASD children
Limited material and instruction to practice calling 9-1-1 at home
* Click for the text to come up*
While the app 911-superheroes used in this study use Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Principles (modeling, rehearsal, performance and feedback) and simulated practice to teach children to identify an emergency, call 911 and report their name, emergency and location.
911 Superheroes an emergency app was developed by an interdisciplinary team
- Operationalize app using android features– speech language library ,voice detection, videos
Prior to receiving either the traditional emergency education or mobile app emergency education the child’s baseline emergency skill will be calculated by observing a child in a simulated emergency scenario
They will be told it’s a practice and make believe.
your child is randomly assigned to the control group your child will receive a traditional emergency education session taught by a member of the study team (similar to an emergency session taught by a visit from the local police)
child will be taught how to identify and report emergency situations, using traditional educational teaching styles
The study mobile phone is a practice phone that only has the mobile application on it. There are no other features on the phone and your child will only use the phone for the app and will not be able to use it for anything else. A research assistant will teach your child how to use the Smartphone mobile app. This app is designed to teach your child how to recognize and report an emergency, teach them how to use a smartphone in case of an emergency and how to communicate important information to a 9-1-1 dispatcher.
After using the mobile application and upon confirmation that the child feels comfortable using the app the child will practice their emergency skills in a simulated emergency assessed by the behavior therapist and monitored by the developmental pediatrician.
The purpose of this is to see how much your child learned about emergency skills from the teaching session and to give them a chance to practice the emergency skills they have learned
complete a short, confidential questionnaire at home, given to your child to take home prior to their educational session. The questionnaire will include questions pertaining to your child’s age, gender, along with questions about your child’s previous emergency skills education.
The phones the children will be using is a non-functioning cell phone. No sim card will be available. The only function of the phone will be the app. Children won’t take the phone home and will only be provided with the phone under the supervision of the teacher and research assistant during the one class period the educational session is being conducted.
As with emergency practice drills at school, such as practice fire drills, there is a potential that your child may experience feelings of stress or anxiety during the simulated emergency pre-test or post-test practice scenario (i.e., a practice simulated emergency where the child has the opportunity to demonstrate the emergency skills they have learned in a practice emergency simulation). However, study team members will be on site during the simulated scenario to help your child with any of these feelings if they experience them. The simulations were designed for children and were rigorously reviewed by the Allan Waters Family Simulation Centre.