The Province of Prince Edward Island has entered the next stage of its 911 project by working in cooperation with the City of Charlottetown to confirm the city's civic addresses to support full 911 implementation in July 2000.
The Charlottetown phase of the civic addressing process follows completion of civic addressing in Stratford and Emyvale.
Consistent civic addresses are the key link to make the 911 system work effectively and will enable more efficient dispatch of emergency services by displaying callers names and linking them to their address. The 911 emergency response system is dedicated to more efficient dispatch of emergency services and location of callers in distress.
"Most properties in the City of Charlottetown currently have their own civic addresses, which simply have to be validated," says Amand Arsenault, the province's 911 Coordinator. "Residents will notice a specially marked vehicle travelling through Charlottetown during the checking process. This vehicle will use state-of-the-art Global Position Technology to speed up the collection and validation of civic addresses. Eventually these validated addresses will be used to create a dedicated '911 Address' for each property -- a critical step in building the 911 system."
Although the current addressing system in Charlottetown will be used to validate 911 addresses, Mr. Arsenault notes that this may not be always possible in most rural areas where civic addressing systems do not exist. "We are working in close cooperation with city planners to identify duplicate street names that might have to be changed to minimize risk to public safety and dispatch times. After the initial audit of Charlottetown addresses is done we will have a better idea if duplicate, or similar sounding street names, need to be changed."
Mr. Arsenault notes the City will consider whether street names need to be changed and will advise the public of required changes. "It is crucial that all potential conflicts are eliminated when it comes to civic addressing and emergency response," says Arsenault.
This phase of the 911 project is a joint initiative involving representatives of the City of Charlottetown's police, fire and planning departments. These groups have been working closely with the 911 Project Team to prepare for implementation. City residents are reminded to verify that their civic address number is properly posted and visible from the curbside. Property owners are encouraged to ensure that:
Numbers are made from reflective material, the number colour contrast from background colour, numbers are positioned under an outside light,
numbers are large enough to be seen at a distance (curbside), numbers are not blocked by vegetation.
If residents do not have a civic address house number or do not know what it is, they are asked to call Charlottetown City Hall at 566-5548 and ask for the Planning Department.
The 911 Project Team together with the City of Charlottetown emphasize the importance of this province wide project by noting that, "We can't help you, if we can't find you."
For more information on the province's 911 Emergency Response Project, call toll free at 1-877-257-4911.