Can we find you?
The importance of visible civic numbers.
It’s an issue emergency first responders deal with regularly.
Civic numbers that aren’t visible from the road or at night.
“It is getting better, however there are still a lot of places without numbers posted properly,” says Dwayne Hunt, fire services coordinator for the Municipality of Barrington and a retired veteran volunteer firefighter.
“Civic numbers that are easily visible from the road are imperative for first responders to be able to locate where the emergency is. When it is dark it can be very difficult to pinpoint an address if the numbers are not reflective and near the road," says Hunt. "All emergency services have electronic means of getting a general location of civic numbers, but if it is not posted or visible from the road, precious time can be wasted trying to pinpoint the location."
Other first responders agree. “The bottom line is if we can’t find you, we can’t help you,” says Jeff Fraser, director of provincial operations for Emergency Health Services (EHS).
Fraser says with well over 55 percent of calls EHS gets coming in by cell phones, it’s not only important for people to have a civic number that is functional, but for people to also have an awareness of where they are when they are out driving by using tools like the mileage markers on the 100 series highways.
“We will be able to help you a lot faster if we can find you,” he says.
RCMP spokesperson Lisa Croteau says civic numbers erected at the end of driveways where they are highly visible from the roadway “are essential to help police find addresses quickly and in emergency situations."
Quick response, she says, is critical.
"Having to search for a civic number that isn't posted or isn't easily visible takes time away from helping you," says Croteau.
The Municipality of Barrington in Shelburne County has undertaken a public awareness and social media campaign highlighting the importance of visible civic numbering and it is starting to see results.
“The public awareness and the social media posts are defiantly helping. I am seeing more and more civic numbers going up daily in the municipality. We still have along way to go also though,” says David Andrews, Building and Fire Inspector and Development Officer for the Municipality.
As other municipal units in the province do, the municipality has a civic numbering bylaw that requires property owners to post reflective civic numbers either on the home or building if easily visible from the road, or posted at the driveway entrance.
“Many municipalities in Nova Scotia have civic numbering bylaws,” says Andrews. “The Region of Queens, the Municipality of Lunenburg, East Hants, West Hants, the Municipality of Shelburne and Municipality of Digby, just to name a few and more municipalities are looking at adopting civic numbering bylaws as they see the importance of them.”
Andrews says for now, the Municipality of Barrington is concentrating on educating the public about the bylaw.
“I have been going door to door in the evenings and on weekends and discussing the bylaw and the importance of people posting their civic numbers properly with property owners that presently do not have them displayed properly,” he says.
Each property owner that is visited or has information mailed out is recorded to followup for compliance, says Andrews.
The municipality also does not sign occupancy permits for new structures or close building permit files without civic numbers being properly displayed in accordance with the bylaw, he adds.
Non-compliance with the municipality’s civic numbering bylaw carries an offence ranging from $100 to $500.
“We will continue public education and visiting properties for the near future as enforcement and fining is the last thing we wish to do but given no other choice we will,” Andrews says.
Andrews who is also a volunteer firefighter, noted there are many residences in the Municipality with long driveways and no civic numbers posted properly along the road.
“Several times responding to calls we have gone up the wrong driveway and wasted valuable minutes,” he says. “This is of no fault of emergency personnel. People are under the assumption that emergency vehicles have GPS to find the location and that is not true. Civic numbers do save lives.”
There are four locations to get proper civic number signs in the Municipality of Barrington: Ocean Computers and Causeway Computers in Barrington Passage, Passage Print in North East Point and Pronova Marine in Woods Harbour.