ALL homes and businesses should display their building numbers to help emergency services, it has been urged.
Mayor of Derry and Strabane Graham Warke said this would be particularly beneficial in rural areas where often homes are spaced out more and there is a lack of street lighting.
Mr Warke met front line workers to discuss the difficulties they often faced when making blue light calls.
"When an ambulance or fire appliance is dispatched, time is usually a critical factor in ensuring they can get someone safely from their home to hospital and speedy access to the treatment that might just save their life," he said.
"For the fire service in particular, every second counts as a blaze can take over a home in minutes."
By making sure building numbers are clearly displayed, the work of emergency services, particularly at night, would be made much easier, he added.
He urged home and business owners to make sure their building numbers were clearly visible from the roadside.
Western area ambulance manager Laura Coulter said having numbers on properties helped avoid wasting valuable time.
"When an accident occurs or someone becomes acutely unwell it is vital that an emergency crew reach the scene as quickly as possible to assess and treat the patient," Ms Coulter said.
