EP08 ‘When you’re hurt and you need serious help you call 999’. Educating children about emergency services and appropriate use of 999: an evaluation study of the blue light hub app’

<h3>Background</h3> The Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust handles over 1,800 calls daily, with nearly a quarter of the 470,653 incidents in 2021 being non-urgent. To address this, the Trust educates the next generation about appropriate 999 use. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trust developed the Blue Light Hub gaming app for 7–11 years old to teach them to distinguish between emergency and non-emergency scenarios, understand services like NHS 111 Wales, and use 999 appropriately. <h3>Methods</h3> An evaluation in partnership with Cardiff University evaluated whether the app enhanced children’s knowledge, awareness, and confidence in using emergency services. Three primary schools in South Wales participated in a two-week classroom evaluation. Children used the app and completed quizzes, with parental consent obtained for data use. The evaluation focused on 393 children who completed both pre and post-test quizzes, averaging 8–9 years (47.8% male, 50.9% female). Sociodemographic information was sourced from school inspection reports. <h3>Results</h3> Post app usage, children’s knowledge of appropriate actions in non-emergency scenarios increased significantly from 19.4% to 33.7%. The proportion who could identify a question a 999-call handler would ask rose from 91.6% to 96.9%. Awareness of NHS services for that could help them if they were unwell increased from 59.8% to 74.8%, understanding of NHS roles from 58.3% to 68.7%, and knowledge of how dialling 111 could help from 25.8% to 57.5%. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Using the Blue Light Hub app for just two hours over two weeks significantly improved children’s knowledge and awareness of emergency services. They better understood when not to call an ambulance, were more likely to identify NHS services for non-emergencies and demonstrated increased awareness of the NHS 111 Wales service. These findings support ongoing app development, support children’s rights, and encourage informed decision-making and resilience within the community.