ALNWICK-HALDIMAND — An initiative to save lives in the field broke dirt last month in Northumberland County.
Alnwick-Haldimand crop farmers Allan and Terry Carruthers, an hour south of Peterborough, were the first to have a Farm 911 sign placed in a crop field last month. The sign displays a number that corresponds to a civic address and is, therefore, searchable in GPS, including Google Maps on a smart phone, narrowing the target for first responders.
“Our property at this location covers 130 acres and we could be from one end to the other and back throughout the day,” Carruthers said in a news release. If an accident happened, first responders could have a very difficult time finding exactly where they are, costing valuable time. “We hope that every farmer in the county will move forward with this,” Carruthers said.
The Farm 911 project, a local plan to get farm signs on unmarked fields to help emergency personnel find farmers when there’s an accident, was launched last year. The family of Emily Trudeau initiated the project after the seven-year-old died in a farm accident in 2014. Riding along with her father in the tractor, she fell out and under the wheel. Trudeau’s mother, Angela, had to flag down the ambulance after paramedics drove right past the field they were in.
