A simple change in how rural residents describe their address during a 911 call could help emergency crews reach them faster.

Pincher Creek Emergency Services asks MD of Pincher Creek residents to change how they report rural addresses when speaking with dispatchers. Specifically, callers should omit the dash when stating range and township road numbers.

Emergency services Chief Pat Neumann says the change will help dispatch systems interpret addresses accurately and reduce confusion during emergency calls.

The issue stems from how different municipalities format rural addresses.

Neumann says the MD of Pincher Creek uses the numbering format originally used across the province, which includes a dash — for example, Range Road 28-1. Other municipalities have dropped the dash from their systems, calling the same location Range Road 281.

That inconsistency, he says, has led to mix-ups when dispatchers outside the region have been confused by the dash.

Fire and rescue calls are dispatched out of Lethbridge, while ambulance calls are routed through Calgary. If that centre is at capacity, calls can be bumped to Edmonton or, in some cases, as far away as Grande Prairie. That distance compounds the problem, since dispatchers far from the region may not recognize local landmarks.

Dispatchers unfamiliar with local geography rely on how clearly and consistently an address is stated. Neumann says residents should identify their location as the MD of Pincher Creek rather than using informal regional descriptions such as north of Cowley or other local references that won’t be recognized by dispatchers elsewhere in the province.

He says most residents shouldn’t run into trouble as long as their phone number is registered with the 911 system, since that information is automatically shared with dispatch. But knowing the correct address format is an important backup, particularly in areas with unreliable cell service or when a call is placed from a different phone.

“The biggest thing is to make sure you know where you live,” Neumann says. “Either know your legal land description or know your proper gate number and your township or range road number.”

Rural gate numbers that serve more than one residence are another, less obvious, issue. Unlike a home in town, where a civic address corresponds to a single house, a rural gate number can lead to two or three separate residences on the same property.

Neumann says EMS has arrived to find as many as four houses sharing a gate on the same property on numerous occasions. During an emergency, when every minute counts, being clear with the 911 dispatcher can make a difference.

Giving clear identifiers, like the house with the red roof or the one with a new Ford pickup parked in front, will assist emergency responders.

While dropping the dash is a simple change, Neumann says it can make a meaningful difference in how quickly help arrives, particularly in a rural municipality where addresses are often the only tool dispatchers have to locate a caller.