LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION IMPORTANT IN CRISES

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- If someone reported an accident near Seven Sisters in Bollinger County, Marble Hill fire chief James Bollinger could find it. But not all of his firefighters could.

"Some of them haven't lived in the area all their lives, so they don't know places' nicknames," said Bollinger, noting that Seven Sisters is an area of bumps on Route N near Leopold, Mo.

When a fire, crime or car wreck occurs in a rural location, finding it on the first try is not always a certainty, say those who respond to emergencies daily. A poorly marked address or hastily explained directions can cause a delayed response to matters of life or death.

Firefighter John Sachen recalls a fire last year in Scott County. Details from the dispatcher about a burning barn were correct, but when Sachen and others from the Delta Fire District went looking they had to search more than expected.

Every minute counts

"The barn was quite far back off the road," Sachen said. "The numbers were no longer on the mailbox, and the road sign had fallen down. We missed it a couple of times before finding it."

Deputies with the Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department face the same troubles two or three times a month, Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson said.

Houses along county roads can be a particular problem, since they seldom have house numbers posted, she said.

When faced with a challenging address, dispatchers dip into an electronic street index file and give deputies an estimate of where the residence should be, based on surrounding house numbers.

Having a countywide 911 system in place speeds up responses to emergencies, Bollinger said, but his is one of four Southeast Missouri counties that still doesn't. The others are Iron, Wayne and Ripley counties.

"Without 911, problems happen," he said.

Cape Girardeau County's 911 dispatching automatically displays certain information whenever a call is made. Along with the caller's phone number, the residence where the call originated, the name of the resident and primary fire department and law enforcement for the area is shown on a screen.

The system can break down when the caller's location is different from the victim's, which often happens when friends or relatives are asked to assist, said Chuck Groshong, operations manager with Cape County Private Ambulance Service. Then the dispatcher must accurately interpret the caller's verbal information.

This can also go awry, Bollinger said.

Roads with similar sounding names can be misinterpreted, or incorrect locations can be given.

"Sometimes we'll get people who call in and they don't know where they live," Bollinger said. "They'll say they live two houses down from a county road intersection, but they don't."

The 'golden hour'

Bollinger County has two artesian wells which are about 20 miles apart. If firefighters are sent to the wrong well, precious time is lost, he said.

In the case of a cardiac arrest, a person who doesn't receive medical attention within three to four minutes can become brain dead.

"In emergency medical response, we talk about the 'golden hour,'" he said. "The rate of survival drops off considerably if someone doesn't get to a trauma center after the first hour."

Cape County Ambulance gives its personnel extra training with maps and driving, Groshong said.

"We get into ambulances and drive as part of our practice," he said. "We'll go to landmarks that people know, but they might not be on a map."

Rural residents can take several steps to make their homes easier to locate in case of an emergency, Sachen said.

Three-inch block letters or numbers on both sides of a mailbox are easier to spot when emergency personnel are in a hurry.

No one should assume that the nearest fire station will always respond, Sachen said.

"When other firefighters go out of town, we'll cover for them, so you don't know what direction help might come from," he said.

Houses on gravel lanes off a main road can be easier to locate if auxiliary signs are erected, and numbers are put on the house.

Although Groshong understands many live in the country to limit contact with people, they need to consider possible consequences.

"They can help themselves by helping us find them," he said.

HOW TO HELP

Adding to a rural address can make a residence easier to find in an emergency:

* If you live on a county road, include it on the mailbox along with the house number.

* Use block letters or numbers, three or four inches high.

* Put the house number on both sides of the mailbox.

* If the house is far from the main road, put the number on the house as well.

* Install extra signs if you live on a lane with multiple roads.