Woman gets the emergency word out
Frustrated with a lack of signage, nurse uses self-made magnets to advertise who to call for police, fire or ambulance
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
As a licensed practical nurse at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife, Audrey Henderson meets patients on a regular basis who, during a crisis, have no idea what emergency numbers to call.
Audrey Henderson, a nurse at Stanton Territorial Hospital, has designed magnets to put on vehicles in an effort to make emergency numbers more public. She says people need to memorize the numbers so they aren't calling 9-1-1 during an emergency. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo |
Most of them call 9-1-1 in error, she says.
"I have had a family who had a fire in the house and the mother had to phone the grandmother to find out what the emergency number was," Henderson said.
"The issue is people need to know (them) by heart."
In May, during the blaze at Fitzgerald Carpeting, a person trying to alert the fire department had to drive to the fire hall after dialing 9-1-1.
The individual did not realize that calling in an emergency in the Northwest Territories requires dialing a local prefix followed by a four-digit number.
The situation is so bad, Henderson says, that when she called Northwestel while researching the issue, a customer service representative said, "Doesn't everybody know it is 9-1-1?"
"That's very serious," Henderson said. "It's not 9-1-1. It's never been 9-1-1."
So she took action.
In an effort to make the numbers more public, Henderson had magnets made which list the emergency numbers she says Yellowknife residents should know by heart: 1-1-1-1 for police, 2-2-2-2 for ambulance or fire, and 4-1-1-1 for the hospital.
Henderson stuck two magnets on her pick-up truck so people stopped in traffic or in parking lots can see the numbers.
"Every city vehicle should have the emergency numbers. Every school child needs to know them," she said. "Why not give them a magnet? Get a company to sponsor magnets so they can put them on their fridge. It should be everywhere. The billboards in town should have all of the emergency phone numbers on them."
Kevin Brezinski, director public safety with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), responded positively to Henderson's suggestions, and updated Yellowknifer on his department's plans for getting the word out.
It sounds like a good idea," he said, adding MACA is also working with the City of Yellowknife to increase familiarity with the numbers by improving emergency number signage in the city.
