A Request From The World of EMS....

[iluvtofly 0]

Everyone out there, PLEASE make sure your houses are clearly marked with their number. I'm guessing it's worse where I am cause I live/work in a rather rural area (there's rarely a day I don't see an amish buggy) but people have a tendency not to clearly mark their house numbers. I can't begin to tell you how frustrating it is to be responding to an emergency and either the street isn't clearly marked or the house isn't marked. I just sent 2 crews out on a call for an unresponsive woman. Both crews spent an extra 2 minutes driving up and down the street cause none of the houses were marked. Those few minutes can be the difference between life and death. If there was an emergency at your home would you want the EMS providers to take a little bit longer cause you didn't take the time or few dollars it takes to buy those numbers and put them on your mailbox and house? I doubt it. So please, for your sake and the sake of those you love please clearly mark your house.

Ok, rant over. Sorry, it's been a frustrating night.

[selbbub78 0]

You absolutely right!! It's very frustrating when you go to someone's house, and can't find it...

i guess i'm lucky, because where i ride the people know what numbers are where, and it's easier, but rural... that's got to be a challenge. I know sometimes the dispatcher tries to find out what the house looks like as well as a number for us, but that's difficult in the dark as well...

Good luck with the morning hours there!!!
CReW Skies,
bubbles

"Women fake orgasms - men fake whole relationships" – Sharon Stone
"The world is my dropzone" (wise crewdog quote)
"The light dims, until full darkness pierces into the world."-KDM

[Bolas 5]

You'd really think they'd have someone outside the house flagging the ambulance down anyways.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[AggieDave 6]

Not to mention that if you called and if you're not actively holding pressure to a wound or if you're not actively giving CPR go outside and wave down the emergency responders. It helps a lot. The responders are people and they don't know your house on site (most of the time).

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[iluvtofly 0]

You would think that. But that rarely happens. Just a few weeks ago a crew was responding to a choking child. It took them an extra 5 minutes to find the house cause it wasn't marked. They drove past it 4 times before the Dad thought to go outside and flag them down. After everything was said and done (the child did end up coughing up whatever he was choking on) the parents started yelling at the crew for it taking them so long. Well, the medic then proceeded to rip the parents a new one. The very next day they had huge numbers on thier house.

[selbbub78 0]

Quote

Not to mention that if you called and if you're not actively holding pressure to a wound or if you're not actively giving CPR go outside and wave down the emergency responders. It helps a lot. The responders are people and they don't know your house on site (most of the time).

of course that helps too, but like you said, sometimes they could be trying to help out inside as well. And of course there's the rare situation that someone calls for themselves, and then goes unconscious, or some other situation.


CReW Skies,
bubbles

"Women fake orgasms - men fake whole relationships" – Sharon Stone
"The world is my dropzone" (wise crewdog quote)
"The light dims, until full darkness pierces into the world."-KDM

[selbbub78 0]

Quote

You would think that. But that rarely happens. Just a few weeks ago a crew was responding to a choking child. It took them an extra 5 minutes to find the house cause it wasn't marked. They drove past it 4 times before the Dad thought to go outside and flag them down. After everything was said and done (the child did end up coughing up whatever he was choking on) the parents started yelling at the crew for it taking them so long. Well, the medic then proceeded to rip the parents a new one. The very next day they had huge numbers on thier house.

at least they learned!!! You would think that they would be THANKFUL that they showed up at all... i guess that's people for ya sometimes


CReW Skies,
bubbles

"Women fake orgasms - men fake whole relationships" – Sharon Stone
"The world is my dropzone" (wise crewdog quote)
"The light dims, until full darkness pierces into the world."-KDM

[AggieDave 6]

95% of the calls for service involve non life threatening situations. So sure, like I said someone could be actively giving life saving first aid; however, most of the time its not needed and/or the people don't know how to give it. So instead of helping the first responders out by directing the help to the right location, they're trying to butt in and interfere with the proper help.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[monkycndo 0]

This also applies to delivery drivers. I can't tell you how many times I would have to call dispatch saying the address doesn't exist. After a call to the person who made the order, the response was almost always "Oh ya, the sign/driveway/etc is really hard to find. Well you fucking dipshit, if you already knew that, why the hell didn't you let us in on the secret and give some fucking landmarks so we didn't just spend 10 minutes determining you're a fucking idiot?!!!!!!

And as a side note, the building code not only requires the address numbers to be in plain sight, but be illuminated as well. It can be on a photo cell, but not a standard light switch. The light next to the door that also happens to light up the numbers does not meet current code. If the house is not visible from the street, have a sign with numbers that are reflectorized, at minimum 2", but better 4" tall and visible from both directions of the street. A response vehicle in a hurry to get to you at night will have a better chance seeing that than some cutesy hand painted sign/mailbox saying "the Smiths". It might not be as "charming", but charming doesn't help when you are having an emergency. If you live in an area where nobody else has theirs marked, your properly numbered house could be the starting point for responders to try and locate your neighbor's house who needs the assistance.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[LisaM 0]

Quote

You'd really think they'd have someone outside the house flagging the ambulance down anyways.

That's what I was thinking. I did that just this week with Comcast and the POD people. I'd be in the middle of the street if I were in waiting on an ambulance!

~ Lisa
~ Do you Rigminder?

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

Not to mention that if you called and if you're not actively holding pressure to a wound or if you're not actively giving CPR go outside and wave down the emergency responders. It helps a lot. The responders are people and they don't know your house on site (most of the time).

Last time I called 911 for EMS it was on July 4th to help a random guy who'd flagged us down in the street as we were walking back to my car after the fireworks. He'd fallen off his bike and had a head injury. We waited on the sidewalk, at a clearly-marked intersection, so I was able to give the dispatcher a clear destination, but I still stood and waved when I saw them coming just to make sure they saw which corner our little group was on. Just made sense to me. Guess it's not that obvious.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[skymedic 0]

Trust me...it's not obvious. People are amazing.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[skydiver30960 0]

One of the places I lived that in many ways was the most ass-backwards (rural Kentucky) was also one of the first I've seen to use the "911 numbering system" that required standardized marking of all addresses. I'm sure it's because the situation was so bad, being a rural area and all, that they went with it. When they upgraded the county's emergency response system to include CAD, they required every residence in the county to mark the start of their driveway with their address number on a standardized green plaque with standardized, reflective numbers. The end result was a HUGE increase in visibility for police/fire/EMS responders. There was some grumbling about the cost and hassle, but the county threatened that if you didn't do it they'd come out and do it for you and give you a FAT bill for it, so everyone played ball. I've since lived in a few other places and have yet to see the system repeated. Needless to say, I'm surprised that rural Kentucky could be the most forward-thinking area I've ever lived about anything!

Elvisio "silent approach request: DENIED" Rodriguez

[iluvtofly 0]

I know the system you're talking about. It's odd around here cause some houses have that green plaque with their numbers clearly marked at the end of their driveway but most don't. It seems completely random as to who has it and who doesn't.

[bluheelrtx 0]

Why don't they just use GPS?

--
Jason
--
Some people never go crazy. What truly boring lives they must lead.

[iluvtofly 0]

I wish there was a GPS system in the trucks but it's way to expensive to get a GPS system for 15 trucks. Not to mention paying for the constant updates of all the systems.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

2 thoughts here:

We pay the local handy guy to paint the numbers on the curb in front of our house each year. I have the brass #'s on our house next to the door as well, but the curb numbers stand out I think.

And second, I always wondered what would happen on a 911 call when it is a parent that is unconscious and needing ambulance transportation to a hospital and there are little kids home. What the heck would you guys do? I mean you can't leave kids alone...but the parent needs to get to the hospital?

I think about it often. I've been in that situation -well, kind of. The kids were 4, 3 & 3. Joe was out, I fell down the stairs. I broke my leg and was laying at the bottom of the stairs. We didn't know ANY neighbors, we had just moved in a couple of weeks prior!

I was trying to stay conscious and my 4 year old daughter couldn't find a phone. I had her hold my leg up while I crab-crawled into the office in the basement and grabbed the fax phone (crawling while someone is holding your broken leg is rather excruciating and I don't recommend it). I kept telling her that if I passed out she needed to press 9-1-1 on the phone and tell the person they needed to help mommy. I hadn't even memorized our address yet...

Fortunately I did not pass out, and could focus enough to call my hubby's cell instead of 911. -But in that case...I had Autistic 3 year old twin boys and a little 4 year old girl. They don't know phone numbers of grandparents or anything. None of the neighbors would be able to watch my Autistic kids (it is a hell of a lot more difficult and complicated than one might think, jus to keep them from falling off of things or running out of a door). What the heck would EMS do in those kind of situations??

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[SeaKev 0]

I'll address your concerns, Jaye. When you call 911 from your landline, the call receiver has your info (name,addy, etc.) displayed. That's the benefit of enhanced 911. In the sit. you described, you will get KCSO and local fire dispatched. In the case of a call from your cell, w/o gps enabled, triangulation will usually get us within 500 yds. WSP, KC dispatch, and ValleyCom work surprisingly well together at times.

KCSO will take care of the kids until a relative can be located. You should have all of the emergency contacts available in your home.

[iluvtofly 0]

If there was only 1 child involved we would probably just take them to the hospital with us. With there being multiple children and some of them having special needs I'm not entirely sure. What I personally would do (just keep in mind I'm not an official EMT yet, I'm just a dispatcher waiting for the results of my state EMT test) I would call the police to come take care of the children. That or social services. Depending on the severity of the special needs we may be able to transport all 3 children with the parent to the hospital and have social services there do what's needed in regards to the children. We would never leave the children unattended. Though it may cause your transport to the hospital to take a little longer (waiting to find someone to take care of the children), we would find someone to take care of them.

[AllisonH 0]

While we're getting 911 questions answered, I have another one. When you call 911 from a cell phone, are you connected to the dispatchers that are local to where your phone is based or local to where you're calling from? For example - if I called 911 with my Ohio cell phone at my Michigan dropzone, who would I be connected to? And would it take longer to get the correct people sent our way than if I used a local land line or a local cell phone?

[ACMESkydiver 0]

A-ha, methinks I will get that phone number list updated and posted up on the wall again.

Thanky both.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[iluvtofly 0]

I'm not 100% positive how all that works. I don't work for the 911 center, I work for a privatly owned Ambulance service and 911 calls us when they get a call in our service area. I would think that technology is sophisticaed enough that it would automatically connect you to the 911 center in that area.

[happythoughts 0]

In Tampa, I believe that they made it a requirement for the house number to be displayed.

Large numbers on the mailbox pole. If the mailboxes are centrally located, it is on the curb or rain gutter.

(Thanks for reminding me though. I need to put mine back up.)

I took down the board that had my numbers on it and use it as a lawnmower ramp. I realized it when the pizza guy called me.

[skybeergodd 0]

Usually cell phone 911 calls will be answered by the closest 911 cell center, they will then get your location and transfer your call to the appropriate dispatch center. I know in Missouri thats how it works.....and to answer Jayes question about multiple kids, in all the different places I've worked for in EMS, when we were faced with that situation we could always get the local police to respond and they would either transport the children to the hospital or they would remain on the scene with them until a designated care giver arrived on the scene. Thats not an uncommon occurrence and in sure your local EMS service has a protocol in place for it.

[ImGunnaJump 0]

Well my experience with dialing 911 a couple of times on a cell just 15mts. outside of Chicago is that my cell call got bounced to the 911 center several towns over.

That happens with cell calls placed to 911 sometimes. I guess depending on the weather, and volume of calls being placed at the same time, this can easily happen (as per what the operator told me), the call gets bounced around. So this experience has caused me to rethink getting my landline phone back - I've just used my cell for a while.

It wasn't overly problematic to solve...the 911 operator was able to quickly connect me to my local 911 center, but it was confusing for a few mts. (she couldn't locate my street in her town and kept asking me where I lived...finally she asked me what city I lived in and we discovered what had happened).

So I've learned that if I have to place a 911 call now on my cell (fortunately, hasn't been often), the first thing I do is confirm that I got the 911 center of the town I live in.

"...I've learned that while the "needs" in life are important (food, water, shelter), it's the "wants" in life (ice cream, chocolate, sex) that make it worth the effort." Kbordson