FARM 911: The Emily Project

By Kaitlyn Clark

The Haldimand Press

Emily Trudeau was only 7 years old when she tragically died in a farm accident in 2014. Now, farmers are coming together to ensure that vacant rural land has proper civic addresses and signage to help emergency responders locate calls.

“In the event of an emergency, no one should have to wait helplessly for first responders to find them,” said the FARM 911 website on the importance of The Emily Project. “Time is everything, and a civic address at the entrance to a vacant farm field could make all the difference.”

Emily Trudeau

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When the project began in August 2017, only rural land with buildings received official emergency addresses in most municipalities. Since Emily’s accident happened in a farm field, the land didn’t have an emergency address that responders could search for through their geographic information system, nor was there any signage at the entrance to the field. Other vacant rural land can include woodlots, trails, and sugar bushes.