People came here to rural Mendocino County to get away from the rest of the world. While privacy is one thing, it is essential not to isolate and remove oneself from the map entirely. If a medical emergency were to occur, could first responders find your home?

Your address sign does not need to be large or fancy, but there are a few suggestions for maximum readability at any time of the day or night.

• Use numbers that are at least four inches tall and are visible (preferably reflective) in the dark.
• Place your numbers so that they are visible from both directions—responders can arrive from multiple locations and may not see a sign facing only one way.
• In addition to identifying your own home, if you live down a road with multiple houses, get together with your neighbors. Create a group sign with all house numbers visible, and place it at the end of the road where it connects with the main road so that first responders know who is down each road.
• Periodically clear vegetation around your signs to keep them visible.

When calling 911 in an emergency, if you need to give special instructions to visitors or delivery companies such as UPS, be sure to give this information to the dispatcher, who will forward it to responders.

In an emergency, time is essential. The faster responders can find you the better. But if first responders have difficulty in locating your home, time can be lost.

Protect yourself and your family by checking your address sign today. If it is not as good as it could be, why not put up a new set of reflective numbers from the local hardware store? It’s just one of the many things you can do to make your home and neighborhood safer.