A new website has been launched to help emergency services work around our love of nicknames for specific parts of the country, and all the addresses which are not actually the best way to access a property.
www.myaddress.co.nz lets you tell emergency services exactly how to get to you, in a time where every second is vital.
Each year emergency services go to more than 1 million callouts, and often the difference between life and death is as simple as getting the right directions.
“They will often say, ‘well I’m standing outside such and such a pub’, and while they may not know where that is, they do know the pubs name,” says Tony Blaber of St John Ambulance.
Particularly in rural areas, commonly used names often differ from a location’s official name.
Terralink, the company which supplies emergency services with information about locations, has now launched the website, which aims to get the public to submit aliases, nicknames or alternative names for already existing locations.
“By taking the time to go in and confirm and check your address, ultimately it will save lives and property in the future,” says Mike Donald of Terralink.
Within its 140,000 kms of road, New Zealand has 70,000 road names, and 2 million addresses on record.
But Terralink has only between two and five percent of alternative road and place names.
Mr Donald estimates there are over 50,000 more to discover.
In Wellington alone, Caughley Grove is also known as Neferton Way, Little George is often mistaken for Goring Street, and – much to its sponsor’s dismay – Westpac Stadium will always be ‘The Cake Tin’ for many.
Emergency staff say while it takes just seconds to establish whether the website has the most accurate location for your property, it is seconds which could save lives in an emergency.
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