A fire alarm went off, the operator asked if we needed an ambulance and we said no but they showed up anyways asking if we needed medical assistance. What’s the point of asking?
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Was it an ambulance, or an ambulance/rescue truck from the fire department? Our local fire station has an engine as well as a rescue truck that can act as an ambulance.
They don’t always send an ambulance. If there was a more important issue somewhere else they would not have sent the ambulance to you. It must have just been a slow day.
I can’t say for certain and maybe different areas handle things differently; but the only reasons I can think of is either you were somehow not very convincing when you said you didn’t need an ambulance, or some other details you provided caused them to send one just in case.
I’ve called 911 plenty of times without having an ambulance arrive.
It depends on many, many things but most of it boils down to local protocols.
Let’s just give one example of a guess of what your scenario might have been:
Dispatch center dispatches for multiple jurisdictions: Bob’s Town sends an ambulance only if requested. Peterville sends an ambulance to all calls.
A more complicated type of protocol which is very common. Call Taker might indicate that no ambulance is requested because it’s only a fire alarm. Call is then sent over to the Fire Department dispatchers who actually decide who is sent. A fire alarm with no confirmed fire at a residence might just trigger a single fire engine to check on it. A fire alarm with no confirmed fire at a multi-story apartment building might trigger a full assignment of three engines, a ladder, a chief, and an ambulance,
A confirmed fire in a dumpster might get a grass rig an no engine. A confirmed fire in a residence but with verification that all occupants have evacuated might get the multiple fire engines and an ambulance but the ambulance is sent with no lights or sirens because they’re just on standby for hurt firefighters and not the occupants.
Large cities these days tend to have complex protocols with hundreds of codings and decision points about who and what gets sent.
Follow up question: Does the ambulance charge you for services if you didn’t ask for it and don’t use it? What about if they wind up giving some basic medical assistance but don’t take you anywhere?
Some jurisdictions always send an ambulance for a fire alarm in a large apartment building. You might not need help but someone else could
Maybe it was a real alarm, with a real fire, and people could have been injured. It’s better they arrived *before* being needed.
The individual calling doesn’t always have all of the information, or a grasp of what services are or aren’t needed.
they’re just asking if you know if any one is injured. sometimes the fire dept requests the ambulance joins them for whatever reason
It’s possible that *you* didn’t need an ambulance, but the situation had a likelihood of *someone* there requiring an ambulance. And oftentimes it’s not a big deal to have an ambulance come check someone out. Also, they might send an ambulance to every fire, but not run lights and sirens if no one is apparently injured.
Triage.
If you’re calling because your neighbor just cut their arm off by accident, both you and the operator are aware that an ambulance is needed as soon as possible; even arriving a minute later could mean death.
If there’s a possible fire, that means there’s possible smoke inhalation, but it’s not something as time-critical; ten minutes won’t make a huge difference.
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