Locating patients in rural area's

[fakingpatience]

I know some fire departments here give out house numbers to people so they can ensure they have a visible number on their house. If numbers on houses would make it easier, perhaps team up with one of the local school, and explain to the kids how important it is to have the numbers present on their house, hand out numbers and the magnets someone mentioned, and then they can bug their parents about it

I just saw this video

Short clip about why you should know how to spell your street address!

[Richard B the EMT]

Anyone in a town or city ever get the call from the guy who says he's at the corner of "Walk" and "Don't Walk"?

Actually, some locations in cities are also hard to find. I find the store names on both sides of the block, with advertisements for what the store sells, and what languages the store people are fluent in, but the building number? Fugetaboudit!

Even where they have the number posted, there is no standardization. Is the number on a post in the yard near the sidewalk, or visible only from directly in front, or at right angles to the street? Is it over the front door, in the front steps, or on the screen door they've already tied open to allow your access, so you cannot see the number?

I once went to the offices of the Popular Communications magazine, and couldn''t find the address. Why? The building number was clearly visible, in 5 foot high numbers, but they were above the second floor windows. I didn't know I wasn't looking high enough.

Just for a laugh, does anybody know what is located at 350 5th Avenue, NYC, NY?

[FredG]

It's even worse when your partners give you directions like that!

I had a response a while back where my partner, who is a long time resident of the community, started giving me directions like "make a right turn on the road past where old-so-and-so's barn burned down 15 years ago". I didn't even live here 15 years ago, how am I supposed to know where some old barn burned down back then.

I hear directions like that from other old time members of the department. What's really sad is that the house that my wife and I bought 8 years ago is still referenced by everybody by the previous owner's name.

[Richard B the EMT]

I hear directions like that from other old time members of the department. What's really sad is that the house that my wife and I bought 8 years ago is still referenced by everybody by the previous owner's name.

Fred, I've heard stories like that. Smith always got riled that, after 25 years living at a place the locals called the Jones' place, after a previous owner. He finally sold the place. After another 25 years, with the Brown family, and then the Green family, living there during the interum, the place was owned by the Dworkins, who complained to Smith, that the locals were calling it the Jones place.

[thrutheashes]

Definitely sounds like the town I live in. We bought our house in October, and when giving directions to locals,I still have to reference the house by the previous owners in order for people to have half a clue as to where I live. The sad part......I live right behind the hospital...............

Fred, I've heard stories like that. Smith always got riled that, after 25 years living at a place the locals called the Jones' place, after a previous owner. He finally sold the place. After another 25 years, with the Brown family, and then the Green family, living there during the interum, the place was owned by the Dworkins, who complained to Smith, that the locals were calling it the Jones place.

[medicgirl05]

I can relate to this issue very well...

I have had dispatchers send me to Mr. Jones residence, when I ask for more information she says its the house past MR. Smith. I dont know Mr. Jones or MR. Smith so that is not exactly helpful.

We also have alow income community in our county and our GPS is not correct in the community, the street signs are not correct, and there are literally no numbers on houses. I had an OD there in the middle of the night and was dispatched to the trailer with the porch light on. As we turn onto the street about 20 porch lights flicker on. Then the dispatcher says the numbers are in blue on the side of the house. So we are looking and never see that. Finally a family member waves us down. As we go into the trailer I look to see where these numbers are....They are on the side of the door, written in blue crayon!!!! Seriously???

I don't know much about the dispatching sode of things but our dispatchers have horrible problems tracking cell phones. We regularly go out on wild goose chases looking for a MVC that is actually 4 counties over but the cell phone triangulation is incorrect. Also we have people give directions using landmarks like creeks that wind around and intersect many different roads. So we drive on 3 county roads before we find the correct location...

This is a very big problem for me...it's nice to know we aren't the only service with this problem!!!

[Happiness]

This is a problem all around rural area's. In my situation we have streets and roads. If I get a Avenue in the address I know that it is a different community. Most of the houses here do not have numbers on them, and I have complained about it but on deaf ears. Then the next kicker for us is on the reserve they have changed all the English signs to the Haida laungage so even is I get the right name I cant translate. After years of this we finally discovered that every road had certain numbers assigned and they are all in numerical order so now we count the houses as we go down the road.

Another problem that comes up is that there are some streets and roads with the same name. We were called out a few weeks past to Eagle Street for a possible stroke. I did ask dispatch if they were sure that they were sending us to the right Eagle, they said yes, then I asked for a pt name as it will help me in finding my pt. They didnt have one , so anyways they had the wrong address and then sent us in the right direction, thank god the Pt was fine as it delayed us by 20 mins. The funny thing was the pts husbands first words to us were Im sorry I think I gave them street instead of road.

We have 2 fire depts in my area and they have both had the campaines of addresses on the fridge and it has worked good so far.

[Richard B the EMT]

So no one will think this is just a problem in "the sticks", I mentioned looking for the Popular Communications HQ? It's on a major roadway, in a major town in Nassau County. I was on my own time in my own vehicle, and this was prior to my purchase of a Garmin Nuvi GPS for my van.

Also, if you are in some sections of some municipalities, either due to lack of maintenance, or nastiness or the locals, street signs are missing, or have been stolen. I have had anxiety when, at 3 in the morning, during a snowstorm, trying to find an address in a neighborhood where the street gangs have stolen the road signs. I have to go blocks before I find any road signs, then count streets in north/south and east/west to just get to the block. THEN, if I am lucky, there will be a visible house number visible. Try that when the street lights are out, due to downed wires from the storm.

I believe it to be a universal problem, be it an area like my own New York City's 8,000,000 population, to some parts of the countryside, where cows outnumber the population, or even prarie dogs.

[crotchitymedic1986]

Its simple, but you probably won't like the answer, I worked in a rural county, where the only map that had been printed was a bank map that only listed the paved roads, and was over 10 years old. Citizens were allowed to choose their house or trailor number, so it was virtually impossible to find a home, if you could find the right dirt road (most dirt roads were criss-crossed with logging roads). What did we do; we divided the existing bank map into quadrants, then the volunteer fireman and EMS folks were assigned a quadrant. It was your job to find every residence, business, church, school, fire hydrant, and potential landing zone in your quadrant. It took about a month to pull it all together to create a hand-drawn mapbook, that was then copied and distributed to everyone in public safety (PS: we found the post office to be very helpful). Roll up your sleeves and go to work.

[ash_emt]

Our worst problem in my county is we have a lot of farmers. So someone will call 911 and say this person is down in their field.... so then we have to figure out which field... how far out in the field... will our unit make it back that far... Also had a few motorcross trails that made it difficult to find/access the patient