Mark you driveway and road

[LBrown59]

I live on a rural road in a rural town. The electric company doesn't want a street address, they want the pole number. Even with the pole number, sometimes they still can't find the location. As for the ambulance crew, almost always they know the lay of the land better than you think. If you live at the end of a long driveway and call for an ambulance, fire truck, or any other emergency vehicle, you should try to have someone at the end of the driveway to show them the way. If they are responding with lights and siren (code 3) there is no doubt that you will hear them coming and they will not be looking for small house numbers on mailboxes. More than likely, they will ask how many miles from an intersection, or some other landmark to help them.
Dusty

So then what is my house number and 911 address for???

 

[LBrown59]

Well, I suppose it would be better not to have address numbers if you are hiding out from bill collectors or mad husbands, etc., but I am fortunant enough that I have lived my life in a way that I am not afraid to be found by anyone who comes looking for me.

This is the only reason I can see for not displaying the house number. Either that or just plain dilatoriness.
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[RobertN]

So then what is my house number and 911 address for???

Guys,

The point of my posting this thread has been lost.

I posted this thread, because I had just heard a delayed response to a medical call in the neighboring fire district. The Engine crew was working with dispatch to find a house that was poorly marked, in a rural area. It took them a while.

Then... the medic unit had to find the place. The medic unit came from a different fire station, and was farther away than the Engine. Once the Engine company found the house, they had to work with dispatch to guide the medic unit in. They had to go past the pavement, turn at a poorly marked "T", cross a creek, turn again by the falling down barn,and make thier way to the house. There was no one who could go flag the engine down; the patient was the only one there.

Fortunately, they were able to get to the patient in time.

This stuff happens, frequently. The Engine crews are pretty good at finding stuff in thier local area. But, sometimes the primary engine is busy on another call, and a different Engine crew has to come in mutual aide, from another area.

This particular case happened during the day, in fair weather. But, if it happened at night, in the rain or snow, it could have been really bad for the patient. It can be hard to see little signs, if they exist, and numbers that shrubs grow over to begin with. Add at night, in the rain, snow, fog, uphill both ways etc and it can be really hard.

It can be hard enough under the best of conditions. Engines are loud, lights are flashing, you're talking to dispatch, reading maps, bouncing all over the place. The easier you make it to find your place, the faster an emergency crew can get there.

 

[LBrown59]

Well, I suppose it would be better not to have address numbers if you are hiding out from bill collectors or mad husbands, etc., but I am fortunant enough that I have lived my life in a way that I am not afraid to be found by anyone who comes looking for me.

This is the only reason I can see for not displayng the house number. Either that or just plain dilatoriness.

 

[Dusty]

Robert..... I will agree with you 100%, because I have been there and done the job. You will also agree that in some circumstances that no matter what you have on a mail box isn't going to help, because the mail box might be located a long ways from where the actual house is located. Our original mail box was almost 1/2 mile from our home on another road, since the Post Office didn't service our road. In fact, in the winter, they only deliver mail about twice a week, since it is a snow covered dirt road. If there is any chance that they will get stuck they just don't come down the road. The town also doesn't maintain the road, since the town abandoned it back in 1890. We do have a house number on the house, but there is no way that they can see it without coming down the 2500' driveway. It is also marked at the end of the driveway, but that is also down the dirt road, that the town hasn't seen fit to mark either. In fact, they have changed the roads name 3 times in the past 20 years, even though it isn't a town road. Now, it has a similar name as another road in town, but that road is on the other side of town, about 12 miles away. There is a private community on one of the roads that has about 50 private summer residences on 350 acres, but they have a single address number and that is all that shows up on the 911 call center. It isn't easy out there for certain. Glad that I am retired and don't have to make calls in the middle of the night any longer. Didn't look forward to any more midnight calls where the reward was a gold safety pin after the first one. Retired with two, and a gold scissor.
Dusty