Whatever happens, first thing to do is not to

panic! You should calm down first, and kept talking to the kid and ensure him that he was safe! Don't you see how most Americans handle crises?
If adults start panic, kids will assume something terrible is happening and feel extremely frightened. To be frank, you and your mom are not even as good as a 8-10 year old kid in US in this situation. You all have a lot to learn! To successfully raise your kids, you as a mom has to be independent, and knows the basic kills of handling all kinds of situation in life.
Hope you learned a lesson. Good luck!