A three-year-old boy in Southaven, Mississippi, grabbed an iPad and started calling for help when his grandmother suddenly collapsed at home. Ky’ier stayed on the phone with emergency dispatchers throughout the ordeal, describing what had happened to the woman he calls Poopie, and then kept watch at the front door until first responders arrived.
According to WREG.com, Ky’ier used the tablet to call several family members about his grandmother before dispatchers got on the line, telling them she had passed out. His grandfather, Jarvis Shipp, said he first got a call from his wife saying she wasn't feeling well, then received a second call informing him she had collapsed and that 911 had been called. Ky’ier stayed on the phone with dispatch through it all, describing his grandmother's condition as responders made their way to the house.
The technical path that made the call possible comes down to how modern tablets handle emergencies. Apple iPads can place calls to 911 over Wi-Fi when configured with Wi-Fi Calling or linked to an active iPhone through FaceTime continuity features, according to HighSpeedInternet.com. Federal Communications Commission rules also require wireless carriers to connect 911 calls from any capable mobile device, including deactivated phones and unassigned devices without an active subscription, per the Federal Communications Commission.
Dispatchers Walked a Toddler Through the Crisis
Southaven's emergency communications division is part of the city's response network, according to the City of Southaven. In this case, a three-year-old described his grandmother's symptoms to dispatchers as responders made their way to the house.
While still on the phone with dispatch, Ky’ier watched for first responders from the front door and called out to them when they arrived to help his grandmother. Southaven has five ambulances and four fire stations, per the City of Southaven. First responders took his grandmother to the hospital, where she was later released and is recovering well.
A Family Reckons With a Tablet's Role in Saving a Life
Ky’ier's mother, Jhakiya Montgomery, said she doesn't know where her son learned to call 911 or describe an emergency the way he did, but she said she was proud of how he helped first responders. After the ordeal, Ky’ier stayed by his grandmother's side with the iPad still in hand, and the family said they were comforted that he made a difference during the emergency.
Shipp said he was glad his grandson happened to be home when the emergency occurred and said things could have gone much worse if Ky’ier hadn't been there. At the same time, Shipp said he doesn't like tablets or children using phones — a tension that sits at the heart of the family's story, given that the very device he's wary of ended up being the one that got his wife help.
That ambivalence echoes broader guidance on kids and screens. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in guidelines updated this year, recommends limiting screen media to one hour daily of high-quality content for children ages two to five, emphasizing co-viewing over strict bans, according to CHOC Health. The 9-1-1 educational page at nct911.org offers guidance on teaching children to call 911, while Ky’ier’s mother said she did not know where he learned to describe an emergency.
Southaven's Emergency Network Behind the Scenes
Southaven, located in DeSoto County directly across the state line from Memphis, had a 2020 population of 54,648, making it Mississippi's third-largest city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Pediatric emergencies in the area are frequently supported by Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in nearby Memphis, which houses an American College of Surgeons-verified Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center serving Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. While that facility wasn't needed in this case, it underscores the layered medical infrastructure standing behind families in the Southaven area when a child's emergency call reaches dispatch.
