WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. -- The act itself was seemingly simple enough, involving just one phone call and several words. But that task is a heroic feat when you consider the person who made the call.

The caller was a 2-year-old girl, who called 911 after her mother collapsed inside their Oak Harbor home.

Erika Miller was playing with her daughter, Alana, on Thursday night when a migraine suddenly hit her.

"Usually, I can take care of it with medication, but I was out of the medication I normally use for that," she said.

Erika took some painkillers, but they didn't stop the trouble ahead.

"I remember feeling a little bit dizzy," she said. "Took two or three more steps and hit the floor."

Alana watched as Erika collapsed in the next room. She then walked up to the coffee table, picked up the phone and dialed 911.

"While she was on the phone she said 'Mommy ouch,'" said Petty Officer William Cummings, with Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.

Those two words sent Cummings to Alana's house. Inside, he found Erika on the floor and Alana in the other room, getting a blanket for mommy, who was shivering.

Paramedics took Erika to the hospital.

"I was shocked to hear my 2 year old had the ability and knowledge to call 911," she said. "She's got a very big vocabulary in English and German."

It turns out she had learned it all from Erika, who is a volunteer for the Red Cross.

"I had shown her a few months ago. 'This is what you do when there' s a big ouie' or what buttons to push. Maybe some of it sunk in," she said.

Erika was released from the hospital on the same day. She said she has had several CAT scans, but the results didn't reveal any underlying problems.

Erika says she now has the correct medication, but says she finds comfort in knowing that Alana knows what to do in case of an emergency.

And, it turns out, Alana knows quite a few words for a 2 year old, in both English and in German.

"I'm so proud of her," Erika said.