Usually it’s the mother who looks out for a child. In the case of Jillian Given, the roles were reversed for just one day. The little girl has been declared a local hero when she found her mother unconscious from a diabetic shock last week.
Given, 5, of Nesconset, was described as calm, cool, and collective on the phone. “My mom is passed out,” she told dispatchers. When EMT’s arrived at Given’s residence, the child opened the door to let them in and kept the ultra-hyper golden retrievers they own calm and away from the scene.
The dispatcher, James Hudson, was impressed by how calmly the young girl handled the situation. “Most people would probably freak out,” Hudson told NBC. “She was 4 or 5 and she did a great job. She knew exactly what to say.”
Due to the swiftness of the younger Given, her mother Elisabeth was revived upon the EMT’s arrival. Nesconset’s Assistant Fire Chief John Martins says the situation could have been worse if they got there any later. Once revived Jillian’s mother was shocked to hear her 5-year-old daughter remembered to dial 911 during an emergency.
"Every parent should be teaching their child to do it because they get it, they can do it," she told NBC.
A similar incident in the tri-state area occurred in July. This time the hero was a 5-year-old Jersey girl named Chloe Olson. Olson called 911 when her mother choked on a chip. Emergency crews arrived on the scene minutes later and luckily her mother stopped choking before she got there. Chief of Police John Ward was impressed by the little girl’s ability to communicate at such a young age.
“You could tell she was a little concerned and scared. She still knew enough to talk to the dispatchers, work it through,” Ward said.