How easy will you be found by emergency response personnel in the event of an accident at home?
This is something we seldom neglect in our safety measures at home – and ER24 has provided important advice on this topic:
“Your pin number should be kept a secret, not your house number.
Too often emergency treatment or action is delayed due to poor visibility of house numbers or no numbering at all.
This may seem like a simple task, but the paramedics, police and fire departments do not have the luxury time a pizza delivery man has to search for the correct house.
If your house is on fire it is relatively easy to locate, but when someone is suffering from a medical emergency inside the house, valuable time can make the difference between life and death.
Emergency services often respond to emergency call outs where the caller has to be phoned back two or three times to locate the house or property and get unnecessary directions.
It could be rather disastrous if you are being held up in your home by a robber and the police or local security company can’t find your home. Even worse if you get injured and the ambulance can’t find your home.
After you have dialed the emergency number and it is possible to wait outside for the emergency responders or in the driveway to flag them down, do so, provided it is safe.
* Ensure that your number is placed close or on the front door of your house, if the structure is too far away from the street, place it next to the driveway.
* The number must be visible from a moving vehicle at a relative speed.
* Make sure that the number can be seen from both directions, even if it is a one way street.
* The number must contrast the background color it is placed on. For example, brass numbers is not always visible at night on a brown or brick wall.
* When you decorate your house during the festive holidays, remember to leave the number undecorated and clear from obstructions.
* If you decide to place a light shining on your number, make sure that it is a white light and not colored, as the wall or number itself might absorb all the light.
* If possible, ensure that your house number is reflective. Power outages in areas can cause delays and zero visibility.
Imagine you have to be woken up in the middle of the night or during the early hours of the morning, just to find out the ambulance or emergency service is pressing the wrong bell. Whilst you return to bed, bad tempered – your neighbor or friend might be fighting for his life next door.
Also view:
