Med-Care Chief Paul Landry Jr. and Deputy Chief Berta Broomhall talk recently about the program to provide and install house address numbers for those in the agency’s coverage area who do not have them. The purpose is to help first responders more easily and quickly answer emergency calls. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

MEXICO — Med-Care Ambulance announced a program to provide and install address numbers to hundreds of homes so first responders can more easily and quickly find them in emergencies.

“Three or four times a week we run into questions of ‘is that the right address or is that the right place to be.’ And some of those calls are urgent,” Berta Broomhall, deputy chief with Med-Care Ambulance, said.

Med-Care Chief Paul Landry Jr. said the issue came to a head recently when advanced EMT Will Allen was delayed on three calls in 24 hours because responders were not able to find addresses.

It was decided that Med-Care would provide and install address numbers at no charge in its coverage area that encompasses Andover, Byron, Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Hanover, Mexico, Newry, Peru, Roxbury and Rumford.

“I’m funding this out of our public outreach line item in our budget,” Landry said, adding that the goal is to reach 200 people.

“The numbers that we provide are going to be contrasting colors and reflective, so they’re going to catch the eye of headlights coming by,” he said. “The one challenge we figured that we could address and could make a difference on financially and provide that public service was making sure that those numbers are there. For some people, it’s the cost of the materials that’s prohibitive to them, and for other people, they’re not able physically to do the installation themselves.”

“As long as I’ve been doing this, it’s been an ongoing issue,” Deputy Chief Berta Broomhall said. “It frustrates the patient, but they have no idea how much it frustrates the provider, especially if it comes in as a child, a cardiac arrest or something like that. I know, for me, and for other providers, when you get in the truck, you have a mental note of things going around in your head, like ‘what do I need?’ and ‘what could be going on here?”

She said, “Quite often they say ‘well my numbers are on the door.’ But it’s a brown building with black lettering, and we’re coming there at 2 o’clock in the morning, and it’s foggy, and you don’t have your front light on.”

Proper numbering should always be visible from the road in both directions and measure at least 4 inches in height and one-half inch wide with a contrasting background.

Landry said sometimes Med-Care workw with the police or fire departments to help pinpoint the location of a call. “It’s important for us, but it’s also important for all the first responders,” he said.

Those who need assistance to get their address number properly placed may email Med-Care at 911.address@med-careambulance.com, or call 207-364-8748, ext. 3, and provide their name, address and telephone number.

Broomhall said Med-Care will make an appointment, come with Med-Care’s SUV and do the work while on duty.

Broomhall said they’re also working on a video for a public service announcement about the program, which will appear on Med-Care’s website and its Facebook page.