By Natalie Osborne
Girdwood Fire Department
Minutes can sometimes be the difference between life and death. When a 911 call is placed, one of the first questions the 911 operator will ask is your location. In the case of cardiac arrest, every minute that ticks by before medical professionals arrive on scene is critical to the outcome of the patient.
Knowing your street address is crucial. Street addresses are still fairly new in Girdwood, but every residence does have a physical street address. If you own a home or condo in Girdwood you can find the physical street address on your tax assessment. If you rent, call your landlord or property management company and get this information directly from them. Your physical street address is the first location description you want to tell the 911 operator.
To verify your 911 emergency address information, dial 565-6789 from your home telephone. Listen to the instructions and you will hear what address is matched with your home telephone number. If this address is NOT correct, there are further instructions for you to correct the problem. We highly suggest you verify your 911 emergency address information as soon as possible.
Anything you can tell the 911 operator about your location will assist in getting help to you faster. Many of the condominium buildings go by names (Alyeska North, South, East, etc…), and responders will know the names of these buildings. If you are in a condominium building with secured (locked) entrance doors, ask a bystander to prop open the door and relay this information to the 911 operator so that they can advise arriving help on which building entrance to use.
• What color is your house?
• Are the lights on outside?
• Are their vehicles in the driveway?
• Is there a driveway or is it just a path through the snow?
• Is your physical address posted and easy to see from the street during the day and in the evening?
While most residents have posted address numbers on their house (or near their house) they may not be visible from the road. Do you have your address posted underneath a porch light so that it’s visible during the evening? If not, you can also use reflector tape on the address numbers so that they are visible at night from the road. You can actually purchase address numbers from Lowes or Home Depot that are already reflective, too.
We have some special tips for Girdwood Bed and Breakfast owners, as well. If your guests needed to call 911 for assistance, would they easily be able to tell the 911 operator the address and or specific location of the Bed and Breakfast? Probably not. A B&B guest may use their own personal cell phone to place a call to 911, making it virtually impossible for a 911 operator to know the location of the caller by the incoming phone number. We strongly suggest that you post signs in several areas of your B&B guest rooms (bathroom, hot tub, sauna, bedrooms, kitchen) with your location information printed on them – similar to what hotels have near the guest room telephone. List your physical address and any other descriptive attributes about your property and location - even driving directions to your B&B from Alyeska Highway is helpful. Inform your guests that in case of an emergency they should dial 911 and refer to the card with this information.
Don’t wait for an emergency. Double-check to make sure every occupant in your home knows his or her physical address (including children). Make sure your street address is marked on your home and visible from the road at night.
Also, Girdwood Fire Chief Bill Chadwick would like to ask parents of children to be very cautious of the height of the snow berms, which are approaching the power lines in places. He advises all people to not touch power lines—it could be fatal.