NEWS

From Ann Landers' Column, February 6, 1993:

Dear Ann Landers: I am an overnight package delivery man. I often have problems delivering packages because people don't have their homes and mailboxes marked. Instead of names and numbers which are essential for delivery people, they have fancy designs or decals of fruit or animals, or there are vines growing all over the box, which may look charming but are a nuisance to us. When there is no name or number, we have to take the package back to the terminal, make a phone call, get directions and try again.

There's a more important reason people should have their names and addresses clearly visible on homes and mailboxes. Listen to this: A while back, I noticed that on a 1-mile stretch of road, every house had a name and number on it. When I commented about this rarity to a homeowner, she informed me that two years before, an elderly couple had lived on that street. When the man had a heart attack, his wife called 911. Paramedics responded immediately but couldn't locate the house.

Finally, they found it when his wife went outside, panic-stricken, to flag them down. Her husband died on the way to the hospital. No one will ever know if those precious wasted minutes would have saved the man's life.

When word of that tragic incident got around the community, everyone went out and put numbers on their houses and mailboxes.

Please tell your readers to go out and get large, easy-to-read numbers for their homes and mailboxes NOW before tragedy strikes. -- D.K. in Cary, N.C.

Dear D.K.: You told them, and I hope they listen. That small investment could save a life.

From the Pensacola News Journal, June 15, 1992:

Visible addresses are more valuable than you think

...Two billboards recently went up on U.S. 90 -- one in Milton, once in Pace -- asking motorists, "Is your number up?"

The project is a joint effort of Bill Salter Outdoor Advertising, based in Pace, Santa Rosa Medical Center in Milton and Santa Rosa Emergency Management Services.

About a month ago, police, postal carriers, volunteers from fire departments and ambulance crews began putting door hangers on homes where the numbers aren't in easy view. Roche said the county printed 5,000 door hangers. About 2,500 were hung in the first week.

"You can't imagine how frustrating it is when you're in an ambulance knowing every second counts and you're driving around a neighborhood trying to figure out which house it is," said Roche, "When I used to ride in the ambulance (in 1985), we had seven Oak Streets in Bagdad."

Roche makes sure homeowners associations hear his pleas. He hears excuses about how attached people are to their old addresses, but he doesn't sympathize.

"To me, the name of your street doesn't matter much if it could endanger the life of you, your parents or your kids," he said.

From Ann Landers' Column, January 7, 1992:

Dear Ann Landers: When our daughter was 15 days old she stopped breathing -- a reaction to a prescription drug. By the time I got to her, the child was limp and purple.

We called 911 but the squad couldn't find our address. Thank God I remembered what I had learned in my lifesaving class 20 years earlier. Our daughter would not be alive today if I hadn't learned how to resuscitate.

Since that night I have made it my personal mission to pressure my friends to take lifesaving classes. I know I make a pest of myself at times, but I don't care because I could be saving lives... -- Counting My Blessings in Columbus, Ohio

Dear Counting: Your letter should convince them without any additional prodding from me. But I'd like to point out the importance of having your address well-lit at night so an emergency rescue team can find it.

9160 Roe St. ~ Pensacola, FL 32514
Phone: (850) 477-5483 or 1-800-843-5483 ~ Fax: (850) 474-6281

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