999 -- 'Where are you?'

Emergency Services in North Wales are joining forces to drive home the importance of clearly identifying house names and numbers.

Still too few houses, flats, farms and shops have door numbers or names which could mean that precious time is wasted by blue light services searching for the property in an emergency.

North Wales Police, the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust together with the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service are urging householders to help further reduce response times by ensuring that their properties are clearly and prominently identified.

"Showing a simple number on the door or the gatepost could help save a life," said Resource Centre Manager Nich Woolf, of the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust. "As with all 999 calls, time is of the essence and any delay could mean that somebody's life is put on the line."

"Responses to emergency call outs are all too often hampered because so many houses and flats don't have numbers on them. In some cases where there are, they often prove too small for purpose or are hidden by overgrown plants and shrubs."

PC John Lloyd-Davies has been the local Community Beat Manager in Ruthin for two years. He set about tackling the issue after he and colleagues experienced the issues firsthand. "Numbering on shops and homes in towns and rural areas isn't always good and in some places doesn't exist at all. This can prove very frustrating especially when you're trying to find the property in a hurry."

"The technology we use leads us straight to the areas however there is no substitute for a name or number on the property which you are trying to find, especially at night. The names and numbers must be large enough to be seen from the road."

Alan Roberts, Operations Development Manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service added: "Ensuring that addresses are well signposted can save vital minutes which could mean the difference between life and death.

"We need the residents of North Wales to help us keep them as safe as possible in their homes -- by identifying their properties clearly and taking up our free home fire safety checks, they will be significantly lowering the risk of being killed by fire in their home."

Along with the appeal and advice, all the services have worked to produce leaflets which will be distributed to people who have Home Fire Safety Checks by the NWF&RS and home security checks by NWP.

Stickers have also been produced for residents to place near their phones enabling them to note their property number, postcode and phone numbers should they need the information quickly in an emergency.

What can you do? Follow these simple steps:

• Ensure that your house number or name is visible from the road

• Ideally, house numbers should be the same size as the figures on a number plate.

• Help the numbers stand out -- choose white numbers and place on a black background or vice versa.

• Encourage your neighbour(s) and local shopkeepers to follow suit.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• North
• Wales
• Police
• Emergency
• Services
• 999

[TrefyJot]

If only people listened and acted upon this knowledge.

If you want an improved 999 response then mark your house, wherever you are in the UK!