Emergency providers plead: Post your street addresses

Twice last month (July, 2004), Orcas islanders who had been stung by a bee called 911. And both times, the Emergency Medical Services had to spend a lot of extra time finding the victims’ homes, because they weren’t clearly marked with a street address. Fortunately, the two victims survived, but interim Fire Chief Garth Eimers worries about what will happen when somebody is in cardiac arrest, or a house is in flames, and the ambulance or fire engine is going down the wrong driveway because no sign was posted. The problem is compounded when fire engines and ambulances drive up a steep, narrow driveway, then have to back slowly down the hill because they missed their destination.

The San Juan County Sheriffs’ Department agrees that this is a major concern. “Addressing at the end of driveways is critical for us. We can’t help you if we can’t find you,” Undersheriff Jon Zerby said, noting that the department regularly gets calls from victims of domestic violence who need immediate assistance.

Emergency personnel aren’t the only ones who get frustrated trying to find a home without a street address sign. Those who deliver packages around the island say the problem is real.

“Yes!,” exclaimed United Parcel Services (UPS) workers Linda Woods and Donna Wildman-Gossett, when hearing that emergency providers are urging residents to put up their signs. Woods said she is sick and tired of having people scream at her because a package wasn’t delivered. In these cases Woods asks, “Do you have a street address sign up in front of your house?” Some get real sheepish and say “no,” Woods said, but others continue to act belligerently. These people have been known to say, “Well, everybody knows where we live,” Woods said. To which she has been known to answer, “Well, my relief driver from Friday Harbor doesn’t know.”

The fire department’s Public Safety officer Max Jones recently drove around selected areas of Orcas Island to see how many people had their street address signs clearly posted. She was appalled. A drive around Madrona Point revealed that only two households had their signs clearly marked. Others had signs, but they were next to impossible to see, because they were covered by brush, up high in a tree, or on the ground. If they can’t be clearly spotted by the ambulance both during the day and at night, they’re virtually worthless, Jones said, adding that there are also problems with some signs that were apparently created by artistically talented people. They may be visually appealing, but they’re difficult to read, Jones said.

Some residents may need two signs, particularly when there is more than one home down a driveway. In these cases, one sign needs to be in front of the driveway, and the other in front of the house.

Address signs can be purchased at the fire department and the two local hardware stores, Island Hardware & Supply, and ACE Hardware.

Meanwhile, the UPS staff is doing what it can to eliminate the problem. They recently had a driver post notices on every unmarked house in the Olga area. The message has worked wonders, Woods said, explaining that “We started the program because we got tired of being screamed at.”

E-911 MESSAGES GO FROM CENTRAL DISPATCH TO EMERGENCY PROVIDERS

The Enhanced 911 (E-911) system, which took effect in San Juan County in 1995, contains a mechanism that flashes onto the dispatcher’s screen the street address of the building from which the call is being made. It is intended to help emergency personnel learn the address of a building even when the victim is unable to communicate it directly over the phone.

All E-911 calls go to central dispatch in Friday Harbor, which then relays the information to the appropriate emergency providers. Local fire departments and law enforcement personnel are also provided with maps that show all street addresses. But there can be a lag of as long as a year between the time a new house is constructed and added to the maps, Jones said.

But even when the information is on the maps, there are no assurances that the firefighters, EMS personnel, or sheriff’s deputies will find the place, particularly in cases where there are multiple driveways and no street address signs.

None of the information contains the names of the residents, in order to protect their privacy.

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