Fifty-one brave young Victorians have been honoured today for their heroic and life-saving actions in the face of an emergency at the 13th annual Junior Triple Zero Hero Awards.
The Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region, Shaun Leane has congratulated Jacob Lodge on his bravery and calmness while making the call.
11-year-old Jacob called when his mum was having chest pain. He was calm, very polite and answered all of the operator’s questions.
Jacob was one of 51 Victorian students, aged between five and 16, praised for keeping calm under pressure and calling Victoria’s triple zero service to seek assistance.
Shaun Leane MP said these stories of bravery are a perfect reminder to all Victorians about the importance of teaching children how to identify, confidently react to and report legitimate emergencies by calling triple zero.
The Junior Triple Zero Heroes were nominated by ESTA’s Triple Zero operators.
ESTA, Victoria’s emergency communications agency receives emergency calls for the CFA, MFB, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and Victoria State Emergency Service. Operators work 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
In 2015–16, ESTA answered about 2.5 million calls for assistance across Victoria, this is an average of almost 7000 calls each day or a call every 12 seconds.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Emergency Services James Merlino
“ESTA’s triple zero operators work under pressure to help Victorians in need, responding to nearly 7000 calls a day.”
“Victoria’s brave Junior Triple Zero Heroes remained remarkably cool, calm and collected and are shining examples of how preparing children for an emergency can save lives.”
Quotes attributable to the Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region, Shaun Leane
“Jacob Lodge from Manningham is a true hero; he kept calm under pressure and sought help when it was desperately needed. Jacob is an example to young Victorians everywhere.”
Note: Audio of Award Heroes’ calls is available for media. For more information, contact the ESTA Media Line on 1300 783 462