When dispatch provides a block and a cross street, which piece should you confirm first?

• A. Verify landmarks only.
• B. Confirm the quadrant before anything else.
• C. Confirm the cross street first and ignore the block description.
• D. Confirm the block and major street description first, then verify with the cross street for precision.

Answer: (D)

The key idea is to establish the exact area first using the block and major street, then zero in with the cross street. In the Major Street Hundred Blocks system, the block and the major street describe the broad location where the incident sits. Confirming that pairing first gives you a solid, unambiguous starting point. Once that is clear, you verify the cross street to lock in the precise position within that block. This two-step approach reduces confusion from similar cross streets on different blocks and ensures the initial location is correct before adding the finer detail.

Landmarks alone can be unreliable for precise dispatching. Verifying the quadrant first doesn’t pin down a specific block, only a general area. Confirming the cross street first ignores the broader block description and can lead to misplacing the location on the map. So, confirming the block and major street first, then checking the cross street for precision, is the most accurate method.