More visible house numbers can save lives

Published 4:45 pm Monday, May 31, 2004

By Staff
How often have you gone looking for an address at night or in bad weather, only to wind up driving past it multiple times before finally reaching your intended destination? It's happened to all of us. And it doesn't always take a backdrop of darkness or rain to make finding a person's home for the first time challenging. If numbers denoting the address aren't large enough, or in an easy-to-see place, locating a home you've never been to can involve a lot of wasted time.
Now, imagine an ambulance driver facing the same frustration while looking for a home where someone's suffered a heart attack, or a stroke. Or perhaps a deputy looking for a house where a prowler has been spotted. If someone needs assistance, the last thing they want is for the people who can help to be delayed, for any reason.
Project Impact of Brewton is encouraging everyone in the city and county to make sure their address is easy for emergency responders to find, and it's a worthwhile undertaking. We likewise ask all our readers to make their house numbers clearly visible from the street. Doing so just might save your life or the life of a loved one at some point. Remember, in an emergency, every second counts.