Anna Distefano said the drama last December began when she was putting 18-month-old Mia in a baby seat while the family's car was parked in the garage.

"She was playing with my keys and accidentally hit the lock button on the remote.

"I was thinking how am I going to get this child out of the car," Mrs Distefano said.

"I broke off a windscreen wiper and tried to get it through a crack in the window, but it didn't work.

"I didn't want to smash a window as I was scared of the glass. After 45 minutes I was hysterical."

Luckily, son Bailey, 13, went inside their Mornington home on his own initiative and called for help.

Police, ambulance and fire brigade officers rushed to the home, due to Mia's young age.

The fire brigade used a special tool to pop open a car window and the ordeal was over.

"Mia was fine. She was amused by all the people there and calmed down," said Mrs Distefano, who can now laugh at the irony of the car being a Ford Escape.

Bailey thought the presentation of his award was "pretty good".

"There was nothing else we could do so I decided to call triple-0," he said.

■ Frankston North girl Tayla Parmenter, 12, called triple-0 after she and a friend were almost hit by a hoon driver.

Tayla's mother, Sharma Hall, said hoons were a constant problem in their area and she was proud her daughter had acted so quickly to notify authorities about a dangerous driver.

"She did really well in my eyes and could possibly have stopped the driver from injuring someone." Tayla said she and friend were walking to a milk bar near her home over the Christmas school holiday break when a car sped around the corner.

"We only just were able to move out of the way and thought the driver was under the influence of alcohol. We memorised the number plate, colour and model of the car and I rang triple-0 on my mobile phone straight away and told the call-taker what happened."