Duplicate addresses lead paramedics astray
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 | 10:37 AM ET
CBC News
Paramedics took half an hour to reach a fatal fire at a seniors residence in Toronto because of confusion over the address.
Firefighters arrived shortly after receiving the call to 100 Cavell Ave. in Etobicoke, in the city's west end.
But paramedics went east, headed for the same address in the other end of the city.
A dispatcher confused the two Cavell avenues, sending paramedics to the one in the east end of Toronto instead of the one in the west.
(CBC)
It took them half an hour to arrive at the correct location because the dispatcher failed to check the intersection, according to the Toronto Star.
Meanwhile, firefighters found a 65-year-old woman in a third-floor apartment of the seniors residence without any vital signs.
Careless smoking is suspected as the cause of the fire.
Confusion over street names is not new to Toronto. When the city merged with the surrounding regions in 1998, there were about 100 duplicate and a few triplicate street names.
In the end, city council voted in 2004 to keep the names despite any confusion it might cause.
