An armed response officer came to the rescue of an eight year old girl who was hiding in a cupboard after pressing an emergency panic button during a house robbery in Glenmore.
The incident has highlighted the importance of ensuring panic buttons are regularly tested and of educating small children about what to do in a home emergency.
Blue Security community and media liaison officer Andreas Mathios said an intruder had forced open the front door of the Nicolai Crescent house to gain entry, after the child’s mother went out for a few minutes to give someone a lift to the street corner. “The suspect walked in while the child was watching TV and told her to be quiet. The quick thinking child pressed a panic button which frightened the intruder, who grabbed a set of headphones from the house and fled the scene,” Mathios said.
“When the officer arrived at the house in response to the panic alarm, he found the little girl hiding in a cupboard. She climbed out and wiped her tears away, relieved to have survived the ordeal without injury.”
Mathios said it was vital to test panic alarms from time to time because systems could become faulty without a home owner being aware of the problem. “When you test the panic buttons get your children involved and use it as a way of teaching them what to do in an emergency. Notify your security company before you conduct the test to avoid having vehicle, which could be needed in a real emergency, from being sent to your home during the exercise,” he said
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