North Washington Fire Protection District (NWFPD) responded to a report of a fall victim, possibly in cardiac arrest earlier this week in the evening hours. The crew was pleasantly surprised to see the emergency light switch was enabled and flashing so they knew for sure which home was the one in need of medical attention.
This is just one of 275 homes that NWFPD has introduced and installed or is yet to install the GE Emergency Light Switch in their district free of charge.The GE Emergency Light Switch enables a normal front porch light to be transformed easily into a life saving feature in the home.A normal light switch with one added feature. When the switch is up, the outside light is on, when the switch is down, the outside light is off, but when the switch is in the middle position, it will cause the light outside to flash. This is ideal for porch lights in aiding emergency responders to find your location.
Locating addresses can prove to be a difficult task for emergency responders especially at night. When you are in need of emergency personnel, the last thing you want is a delayed response.
To better serve their citizens, NWFPD acquired a supply of 500 GE Emergency Light Switches that they have offered to the citizens in their district and are installing them free of charge. A flyer was mailed out offering this new device. The department has a firefighter who is a licensed electrician who goes out and installs the light switches free to the residents in their district.
“We were surprised and pleased to the response we have received. We have more than 275 light switches that have been installed or are being installed. The North Washington Fire Department continuously strives to offer the best emergency services possible to the people we serve and I am happy to have been able to offer this device to make the homes safer to the citizens in our district”, said fire chief Jim Notary.
