By Jenny Woodruff     Sun Staff Writer

"HAVING A distinguishable house number can mean the difference between life and death.

Police officers, firefighters and paramedics on the Northside have their fair share of problems when it comes to finding addresses.

On average, rescue workers can sometimes lose 30 seconds on their way to an aid call or a fire because the victim's address is poorly marked on the house.

Sometimes it can take up to two or three minutes.

If one is choking or a building is on fire, those can be very long minutes, according to Precinct Four Commander John Tisdale........

...Not all street numbers or house numbers are listed where they can be seen or legible and in an emergency that can be very critical, according to Jackson District Fire Chief Robby Bush.

"They need to be out in the open and well lit if they are off the road," Tisdale said.  "If they are going to be on a curb, something needs to be done to make it stand out because it can be the difference of somebody's life being saved."

Ridgeland Fire Sergeant Charles Eudy has seen these problems.

"It is not a problem on every street, but in some areas it is just harder to find street numbers than other areas." ....."

....AMR Public Information Officer Jim Pollard said, "In short, your rescuers can't help you until they find you."

"AMR advises against painting building numbers on the curb.

"Vehicles parked next to the curb can prevent our crew's spotting the number," Pollard said."