Cumbria's ambulance service is appealing to householders to make sure their house or flat numbers are clearly visible, to avoid losing "vital minutes" in a life-threatening emergency.

The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), which operates ambulances throughout Cumbria and the rest of the north west of England, is urging people to ensure that if medics needed to find their home, it would be easy to do so.

This call is made more urgent by the rapidly lengthening nights as winter approaches.

Senior paramedic Luca Alfatti stressed that something as simple as making sure house or flat numbers are clearly visible can mean the difference between life and death.

“It is a difficult situation to be in when in an ambulance ready to help somebody who might be minutes away from dying but their property number isn’t clearly visible."

"It means we are losing vital life-saving minutes which make it so important for people make an effort to ensure we can find their property quickly.

Emergencies such as sudden cardiac arrest must be responded to within minutes if the patient is to have a chance of survival.

The likelihood of surviving decreases by 10 per cent with every minute that passes without defibrillation.

Responses to a stroke require the same urgency as a cardiac arrest.

The faster someone receives treatment, the more likely they are to make a full recovery.

This is the focus of the major NHS Act FAST campaign, which seeks to draw greater attention to the need for urgency when dealing with a stroke.

Now, as the nights draw in, NWAS is urging all residents in Cumbria and elsewhere to check if their house or flat number is clearly visible from the road at night, that no bushes, fences or parked vehicles are blocking it from view.

Ambulances are equipped with sat-nav systems to help crews locate properties but if the house number cannot be quickly identified, medics spend vital time looking for clues on the street including numbers on neighbouring properties and rubbish bins.

Senior paramedic Luca added: “As the days are short and the nights are long, house numbers should be lit up where possible so that they can be seen in the dark with nothing blocking their view from the road.

“You can’t usually plan for an emergency, but you can prepare. We hope you never need us but just in case, please help us find you.”

Other ways you can help emergency services find you include:

· Ensure children know how to say their address and how to contact the ambulance service as soon as they are able to.

· Smartphones can plot exact location co-ordinates in their map facilities, take some time to see how this works on your device.

· Download What 3 Words – a free app which can pinpoint a location to within three meters, anywhere in the world. The NWAS mapping system works with What 3 Words and 999 call handlers can type in the three given words to identify the exact location of the emergency within seconds.

· Take notice of motorway markers, junctions and road signs so that you can explain where you are – don’t just rely on the sat-nav.

· Look out for small blue driver location signs every 500 metres on motorways and some major A roads. Providing the details written on the sign nearest to the emergency will help crews get to you.

As always, only dial 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency.