By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
NINE-YEAR-OLD Bhoomika Gundlur has been congratulated by the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) after she rung triple zero when her one-and-a-half-day-old baby sister started choking.
“It was my first time calling triple zero, it was kind of hard to talk to them on the phone, they asked if my sister’s head was hot or cold, how my mum was holding her and if my mum was patting her back and said to stop patting her back,” Bhoomika said of the ordeal.
Bhoomika’s father Channappa had just left the family home to get medicine for his wife Veena who was still weak after giving birth just 36 hours before.
“I was still very sore and couldn’t move much, it was a very horrible day that day,” Ms Gundlur said.
An ambulance arrived shortly after the call was made and baby Gouri stayed at the Monash Hospital in Clayton for two hours for observation but was uninjured.
“She choked on mucous while I was breast feeding,” Ms Gundlur said.
The call was made on Thursday 12 March 2015 and the family said they had a wonderful time at the awards ceremony on Wednesday 13 May.
“It was very fun, dad’s going to hang my award up on the wall,” Bhoomika said.
The Lyndale Greens Primary School student said she will tell her little sister about that day when she grows up.
“I will tell her how she was kind of rescued by me,” Bhoomika said.
Chantel and Taylor Thompson were also congratulated on the day for their quick thinking when mum, Krystal suffered an anaphylactic reaction to medication.
“I was told if Chantel hadn’t made the call within 10 minutes of it coming on, because of its severity, I could have died there and then, my lungs were at 15 per cent capacity,“ Krystal said.
But with some quick thinking from nine-year-old Chantel and the help of her younger sister Taylor, an ambulance arrived just in time.
“Mum and dad taught me to call triple zero as a toddler, but that was the first time I’d had to call,“ Chantel said.
“They are my two little heroes,“ Krystal said.
Nine-year-old Ethan Webb was also applauded for his efforts when his mum went into labour on her bedroom floor along with Melodi Simsek who called triple zero for the first time when she noticed her mums migraine symptoms worsen.
