Is your house number easy to see in an emergency?

Minutes count when you urgently need an ambulance, fire, police, or other emergency service, especially in a life-threatening situation.

When emergency services are cruising the streets searching in vain for the property number they have been called to, valuable time is wasted. Lives can hang in the balance.

Don’t waste our emergency responders’ time. While a paramedic is looking for your house, someone else, somewhere else is still suffering and having to wait longer for emergency assistance.

Here are some helpful tips for prominently displaying your property number from its best angle. These are adapted from Ambulance Victoria’s work:

To get the help you need as quickly as possible, ensure that your house or building number is clearly visible from the road.

Take a walk or drive past your property? Can you see your house number easily? From all directions? During the day? What about at night?

Is your house number in an obvious place? How large are those numbers? Are they blocked by trees, shrubs, caravans, boats, and other vehicles? Are they hidden behind an open door?

Is your house number properly fixed to an immobile structure like a wall? Is your house number “9”, a swinging “6”?

It’s often more challenging to display house numbers on a rural property. If you can, sign post your property from the main road. Signpost the roadway to your house using large reflective numbers. You could attach the numbers to a weathervane, a recycled barrel or old chicken coop. You could use your imagination to create an unforgettable feature for your numbers.

If you can’t see your house number from the road, neither can a paramedic, fire fighter, police, emergency rescue team or anyone else.

Remove any obstructions. Trim the trees and shrubs. Install house numbers that can be seen in daylight and at night from the road in any weather and with emergency services approaching from any direction.

Read more:

Ambulance Victoria. A visible property number can save your life.  Ambulance Victoria article. You can also donate here to this worthy cause (Accessed 2 September 2024)