Little zero hero

By Casey Neill
NOT many six-year-olds would have been labelled a hero but Boronia’s Paige Fischer was last week dubbed just that.
Paige was one of 20 young Victorians aged between three and 14 who last week received Junior Triple Zero Hero awards from the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) for calling triple zero in an emergency.
On 12 July last year Ferntree Gully woman Christine Fischer suffered a severe asthma attack as her granddaughter Paige and daughter Mandy drove her home from a family dinner.
“We took my grandma home and she just dropped on the ground,” Paige said.
Christine had been diagnosed with a chest infection earlier that day and but was not yet taking any medication for it.
“All I remember is getting to Ashton Road and saying to Mandy I can’t breathe,” Christine said.
“I can’t remember getting home, I can’t remember passing out, I can’t remember a thing until I woke up in the hospital.”
Mandy said her daughter was upset when she first saw her nanna collapse.
“She asked ‘what’s wrong with nanna?’” she said.
“I didn’t actually know what to do at the time, I just went blank and then she said to me ‘call zero, zero, zero’.”
Panicked, Mandy said she was more than a little abrupt with the call taker, who asked her if there was someone else she could speak to.
She handed Paige the phone, and the five-year-old relayed instructions to her until the paramedics arrived and transferred Christine to the Angliss Hospital.
“She’s always really calm, she doesn’t stress over things,” Mandy said.
Christine said she was very proud of her granddaughter.
“And whoever the paramedics were, I want to say a very, very big thank you because they were excellent,” she said.
Paige’s great grandmother, nanna and mum all watched on last week as she received her award.
“My mum was so proud, she really was,” Christine said.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron and AFL player Brendan Fevola presented each of the youngsters with a certificate and a Triple Zero Hero teddy.
Mandy said the ceremony was extremely emotional.
“It was very exciting but when she got called up and they explained what she did we all got a bit teary-eyed,” she said.
Paige also met the woman who had guided her through the traumatic ordeal – call taker Vicki Talbot.
ESTA CEO Neil Foster said the awards recognised the children’s initiative in an emergency situation.
“In many cases they’ve been brave and resourceful enough to stay on the line with the operator who has talked them through giving basic assistance before help arrived,” he said.
Mr Cameron said the awards also helped to raise awareness about the importance of teaching children what to do in an emergency.