How do you answer the "Police, Fire Service, or Ambulance" question when calling 999?

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ben_jamin_h@reddit

If it's simple, just ask for the service.

If it's a complicated situation, tell them. They can prioritise best.

The reason they ask is that if it's a simple situation, they can pass you along quickly and give more time to the complex ones.

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Spanner1993@reddit

Prioritise the most urgent factor in the situation and ask for the relevant authority. If multiple services are required they will communicate between themselves.

Multi car pile up, youd generally go with ambulance. Unless the pile up is actively on fire, I guess

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Ecstatic_Effective42@reddit

If there's a multi-car pile up, you say Police. They will hear your explanation and be contacting the other services immediately. Let the experts make the call.

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Spanner1993@reddit

If there are serious injuries, that takes precedent. You ask for ambulance. The ambulance call handler will contact police and fire to facilitate the ambulance crew as necessary.

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Dunny2k@reddit

No this is absolutely a Police problem. Any sort of RTC with injury is a Police job first. They need to make the scene safe for ambo to attend, close roads and do ten second triage on the injured.

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blahehblah@reddit

The fact there is an argument about this is kinda proving OPs point.

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The thing to keep in mind is that the people on the phone know this shit and will also contact the appropriate service. I've known someone to call an ambulance and they send the police out first to make sure it's safe for the ambulance crews. I've known someone to call the police and they say "we think you need an ambulance instead".

If you phone 999 for an ambulance for a traffic accident they'll know to contact the police as well.

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Dunny2k@reddit

It shouldn’t even be up for debate.

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Tonythepillow@reddit

It is though, as we can see here.

All I know is that once 3 police vehicles 2 ambulances 3 fire engines and a helicopter have been there for an hour and 5 highways maintenance will turn up with a sweeping brush, 2 foil blankets and a channel 5 tv crew to show how important they are.

(This is not a personal dig at them, I just remember every incident on a tv program they turned up and there was already a plethora of emergency services on scene cracking on with the job)

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Tonythepillow@reddit

Never a truer word spoken.

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CaptainYid@reddit

I'm gonna say it's not.

Paramedics can block roads with the vehicles and make scenes relatively safe until the police arrive to do what they do. Or the fire brigade to clear diesel etc.

Police won't be clearing debris before the ambulance service gets to do what they do

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Dunny2k@reddit

I mean as a Police officer I’m gonna say you’re massively wrong there. Traffic management is the job of the Police and using M/ETHANE they’ll declare it a major incident if necessary. Fire will only attend if someone is trapped or there’s a spillage/fire.

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CaptainYid@reddit

I mean as a paramedic I can tell you there is no way any ambulance staff are going to refuse to go and treat patients because police isn't there to manage traffic.

That's why we're taught to use the vehicle to block traffic and make the scene as safe as possible for the patients to be treated. Bit hard to miss a 4 ton big yellow NHS taxi

And you're right about the fire brigade, just like I said. They'll come to clear spillages and help when people are trapped.

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Dunny2k@reddit

I mean there’s no need to lie mate you’re clearly an electrician of some sort considering your post history. Paramedics wouldn’t refuse no but Police would always get there first anyway. Paramedics refuse to do treatment on a person that’s been stabbed if the offender is still in there though for example and rightly so. If there’s danger then they absolutely can and will refuse, and they’ll wait until Police get there.

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tevs__@reddit

This is why people don't talk to the police, stalking back through their posts to try and catch them in something, classy.

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CaptainYid@reddit

Or when they get caught being wrong

They deleted all the comments

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Dunny2k@reddit

You might want to look up the definition of stalking.

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Easy_Explorer_3869@reddit

Police would always get there first? I’d love to know where you work, from experience they regularly don’t get there first and most of the time you have a patient in the back of the ambulance that you’ve used to block the road and either end up waiting for them or they just come straight to hospital dependent on carriageway blockages/injuries. Speaking as a former police officer and 11 year paramedic

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Dunny2k@reddit

Rural area. Always get there first, which makes sense with the cars being a lot faster.

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Easy_Explorer_3869@reddit

Very different to working busy city areas then

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Dunny2k@reddit

Even when I used to work in a metropolitan area we’d always be on scene first. 10 minute tag which we hit 99% of the time. Always waiting ages for ambo even at mental health jobs. And don’t get me started on sudden deaths.

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PandaBoii93@reddit

Never seen police first at an RTC in better part of a decade of service as a paramedic. Then when they do turn up, while I’m dealing with the patient they couldn’t care less about scene safety it’s always “is it life changing or threatening.” Any emergency service knows to fend off/fend in appropriately and how to block roads for safety. Fire brigade usually there pretty fast for big RTCs and police always send the message “update if we’re required when you are on scene” 👌

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CaptainYid@reddit

I'm clearly an electrician because of my post history?

Which is mostly about doing my own home improvement or posting on the Tottenham page? Makes sense. Nothing like on the Ems page saying about how I knew some bloke in the picture posted. Or commenting and then messaging one of yours on our protocols for welfare checks on the askuk page.

Agreed. We wouldnt go forward when there's an attacker on scene on a stabbing, we don't refuse to treat patients. One patient is better than 3 or 4. Wasn't the point about traffic management?

Not often police get to an RTC before we do. Or even most calls. It's usually RCRP and thrown out way.

It's what 12 years as a paramedic teaches you. Or a sparky? I don't know what I am anymore

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blubbery-blumpkin@reddit

They absolutely don’t. I have attended many RTCs and arrived before the cops. We are trained to park the ambulance in such a way that it is at less risk, and we are careful. We do need the police to make it fully safe but it’s not like we wouldn’t start triaging and whatnot if they weren’t there. Also, police very rarely doing 10 second triage at an RTC.

To answer OPs question any of the ones needed. When you get to the next step you will give details and the emergency services control room will alert the other relevant services. They all have systems in place to make sure this happens quickly and efficiently, and many times en route to incidents those attending will ensure that everyone has been tasked. Ideally you’d choose the most relevant one, but that’s not always clear, and less so if something bad is actively happening to you and you’re calling 999.

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gyroda@reddit

They'll also sort it out if you call one service and another is better suited, based on what you've described on the phone.

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GlastoKhole@reddit

I thought it was a fire & rescue job to be fair, not to muddy the water. Every crash I’ve seen in always has a fire engine and ambulance with it half have had police. They need to make sure the cars aren’t going to blow up and sometimes cut people out, they can block roads with the trucks too

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Dunny2k@reddit

Depends on the accident tbf. Anything with electric vehicles will be fire although RPU are now trained to deal with this too. Obviously if someone is trapped in a vehicle then absolutely fire will attend but as a whole I’d say it’s a Police job. Police will carry the job and investigate it but ambo and fire have little involvement after that initial attendance.

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Shriven@reddit

I mean regardless, the services will interact with each other but in 99% of cases the bt call handler will refer you to police whenever multiple services are required anyway

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Ecstatic_Effective42@reddit

The thing is: unless you're an expert, you're not going to know there are serious injuries and you should not be taking the time to diagnose if there are. You make the call as soon as possible, and get the experts on the way

(apologies if this sounds a bit preachy)

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Nandor1262@reddit

I saw someone face down not moving unconscious in the road after going into the back of a car on their motorbike the other day. Good thing I’m an expert at seeing that he obviously needed an Ambulance…

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Ecstatic_Effective42@reddit

The conversation above is specifically for a multi-car pile up scenario, not one unfortunate biker.

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Nandor1262@reddit

Not hard to make a quick judgement though is it mate. 5 cars bump in other the Police. One of the cars is on its roof or looks like scrap metal call an ambulance

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Spanner1993@reddit

Blood loss, lifeless, back/neck pain = serious

👍

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undercovergloss@reddit

But still you need police who corner off the road to prevent more accidents - prevention is the main factor here. They also have training in first aid so can give access that to the patients until the relevant other services arrive

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JobAnxious2005@reddit

Nope

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Time-Caterpillar4103@reddit

Think that’s more police so they can coordinate road closures etc.

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Dismal_Fox_22@reddit

Unless condones actively committing a crime I’m going to say ambulance first. Every time. If there are injured people around ambulance control rooms will provide better advice than the police ones.

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Immediate_Fly830@reddit

If its a multi car pile up on a live carriageway/motorway then police is absolutely most appropriate. Ambulance won't be able to do much until the police closed the road and made it safe anyway, the Police call handler will liase with ambulance and fire service and ensure they all attend.

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ZestyData@reddit

Ambulance call centres know better than civilians what level of police presence and handling.

The critical thing here is the people that may be actively dying. Prioritise that. They'll organise the logistics that they know they need.

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Dismal_Fox_22@reddit

Ambulance first, the ambulance call handler can advise the first aiders and best approach to managing the casualties until the paramedics arrive. They will contact the police.

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iminvisibru@reddit

If it's a motorway a number of police forces no longer attend motorways. The control room would call highways and other controls but not send police attendance .Ambulance control rooms are also perfectly capable of calling the police but prioritising medical care if there are multiple injured people is the right thing to do.

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Immediate_Fly830@reddit

Police would need to attend to investigate the cause of the accident and any possible driving offences.

I'd also question the viability of members of the public performing any form of medical care on a live carriageway without experience and when occupants are potentially trapped in a vehicle, because unless its on fire they really shouldn't be removed to prevent further injury

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iminvisibru@reddit

Pol may attend to investigate but initial road closures in the event of an emergency on some Motorways will be the responsibility of Highways.

Fair enough regarding they shouldn't be advised to leave their vehicles but calling Amb first means Amb will get that call at least 2/3 min faster if it's life risk.

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Immediate_Fly830@reddit

Thats fair.

But tbh, I suspect it this scenario the emergency services will be receiving several calls simultaneously anyway and clearly from yhe comments some will go police some ambulance, so all the services will probably get the call at the same time

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iminvisibru@reddit

probably true as it will depend on who sees what and different info would be passed anyway.

I'd always say Ambulance first if you think someone is injured just in case.

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cymrumps@reddit

Police absolutely still do attend motorway calls, especially if it’s an RTC as they need to investigate it..

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iminvisibru@reddit

Not all motorway calls in all Force areas, even if it's an RTC. Local forces likely would attend for reports of injuries even if they have no Motorway police but it's not a guarantee depending on the information they receive.

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Spanner1993@reddit

If there are serious injuries, that takes precedent. You ask for ambulance. The ambulance call handler will contact police and fire to facilitate the ambulance crew as necessary

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thegerbilmaster@reddit

This is the right answer.

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voluotuousaardvark@reddit

Hiya! How's your day, yeah mines good too

So yeah I was coming back from the big tesco and saw some guy get hit by a red citroen- it looked like it was in a bot of a mess before it hit them!

Excuse me, I was talking- do you mind if I finish PUH-LEASE.

but yeah some one should look into that

Hangs up.

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jrw1982@reddit

If there are persons trapped its ALWAYS fire service.

I cant believe i scrolled through all the replies with no answer.

Same applies if scene isnt safe, ie risk of fire or car on bank, fire service. Every. Time.

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carlou1719@reddit

If there are multiple people who can call 999, they should and each ask for a different emergency service

The services do communicate but not as quickly as you might need

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KatVanWall@reddit

My mum remembers dialling 999 once and saying 'which service do I ask for for a heifer running down the A34?' She says the operator seemed both baffled and testy, so she opted for police.

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GuestOk9310@reddit

Police seems like the best one here!

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PeaceLoveCurrySauce@reddit

Medical care the priority? Ambulance, they’ll sort police and fire if required
Crime the priority? Police, same as above
Something on fire? Fire, then same as before

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abfgern_@reddit

Ahh, but what if a stolen ambulance with a casualty in the back is on fire? Checkmate

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jvlomax@reddit

Superman

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chrisl182@reddit

Lifeguard

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Shriven@reddit

Coroner

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Prasiatko@reddit

While floating out to sea.

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mosleyowl@reddit

Mountain rescue then

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PeaceLoveCurrySauce@reddit

Fire

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sutt2467@reddit

All three, I just set fire to a burglar

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GuestOk9310@reddit

Then fire, as putting that out will be a priority.

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DutchOfBurdock@reddit

Each department can communicate with one another as Police, Fire and Ambulance all use the same TETRA (Airwave).

You'd usually ask for the service most required. If unsure, inform the situation to the call taker so they can assess need. Imagine a bad car crash, vehicles on fire and people injured with a crazy Kevin/Karen brandishing a knife. You'd explain this and the call taker will liaise with all services as needed.

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GuestOk9310@reddit

I would ask for the Police, this is clearly a crime and the Police deal with crime.

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OrganicPoet1823@reddit

Control rooms have direct links between them newer software allows jobs to be passed between systems without even speaking

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Timely_Egg_6827@reddit

Probably police for multi car crash. They need to shut the road for the others to work safely.

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GuestOk9310@reddit

Can't the Fire Service do that? They carry Police signs, plus another advantage of asking for them is that their control rooms tend to be quieter and therefore pick up calls sooner than the Police control room.

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OldCaptain3987@reddit

Fire service are legally allowed to shut the road too

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Shriven@reddit

Yeah but they'll likely be busy cutting people out of cars, and don't tend to be taking details form witnesses etc.

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OldCaptain3987@reddit

Normally someone spare to close road before police arrive

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Shriven@reddit

Never seen fire arrive before ambulance or police in any circumstances other than they've stumbled across it. Police and ambulance are generally always moving around and in their vehicles, whereas fire are normally at their 2nd jobs, in their gym, or asleep, so need time to moisturise, do a bit of yoga, think about striking and then leave their station..

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OldCaptain3987@reddit

Didn’t get in the job then? Didn’t make the standard?

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Timely_Egg_6827@reddit

Depends how rural. Seen volunteer fire brigade turn up first as made up of locals. But you only really see that on the islands. Takes time for air ambulance to get there and usually ordered by doctor. Police where I lived once were two hours away except for one agraphobic officer. Remember the time police got called for an "out of control" party.

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jrw1982@reddit

This. Fire engines make great road blocks.

Police can close a road further down/up.

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Equivalent_Tiger_7@reddit

The police will come automatically no matter who you call.

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caniuserealname@reddit

People are overthinking this.

999 is a service intended for people in an emergency, they understand you'll be panicked and not necessarily thinking straight. which one you choose is merely an attempt to move things faster, no matter which one you choose the call handler will get the correct people to you so long as you answer their questions.

You don't even really need to answer the question, if you said you didn't know but gave a quick description of the situation the call handler would get you to whoever they think is appropriate, you'll get there eventually.

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PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit

It really doesn't matter that much, as long as you don't say something silly.

I work for a rescue service which is coordinated by the police. By the textbook people should first ask for the police, then when the police answer, ask for our rescue service.

That's what we advise but it's literally seconds more efficient.

Ultimately a call handler is going to ask what's wrong and they will decide who needs to attend. If you ask for the police then the police answer and you say somebody has been stabbed you don't need to ask for ambulance service - they're coming anyway. If you tell the fire brigade that you're stuck in a cave, they're going to get the police to shout mountain rescue and cave rescue, depends where in the UK you are.

Just answer questions as calmly and as honestly as you can and the services will see you right. Do not ever have regrets about not asking for the right service. It's not your fault.

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Pretty_Signal4186@reddit

If multiple services are required always say "Police" If only Police are required, say "Police".

If it is specifically for a fire then say "Fire", if the incident is specifically medical, without criminal involvement say "Ambulance".

Use common sense for "Coastguard" and "Mountain Rescue" too.

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172116@reddit

Use common sense for "Coastguard" and "Mountain Rescue" too.

If you need mountain rescue, you ask for police, who have responsibility for coordinating.

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GuestOk9310@reddit

What if you don't know if you need Mountain Rescue or Ambulance control? I would personally ask for the Police and hope that they would figure it out.

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justsomerabbit@reddit

let 999 make that choice.

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172116@reddit

Dial 999 or 112, ask for ‘Police’, then ‘Mountain Rescue’.

No, do not complicate things with the initial call handler. Ask for the police. You then inform the police that you require mountain rescue. That information is on every MR team page, and is regularly repeated at safety talks and training courses. Most recently I heard it from a helicopter pilot talking to a bunch of kids.

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justsomerabbit@reddit

Thanks. Fixed my post

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Kayakmedic@reddit

Don't let them make that choice, call via police like every mountain rescue team suggests. The switchboards for 999 are often not local and not outdoorsy. They've asked people on mountains for a postcode before.

Your broken ankle will get a low priority for an ambulance because it's not life threatening, you'll wait 4+ hours for a non-urgent ambulance who will then realise they can't get to you. Then MR will get dispatched after a massive delay, calling via police avoids this.

You can also ask them to request that mountain rescue call you back, the MR controller will be local and outdoorsy so they'll figure out where you are by the name of a local landmark/climbing route/bike trail. They can also send a link to your phone to find an accurate location.

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PaulKarlFeyerabend@reddit (OP)

This seems to be the option most people are suggesting but a fair few are saying to choose the service based on urgency or select the ambulance.

If you ask for the police, will the call handler be able to support you to give medical assistance to people who are there? Or transfer you to someone who can?

I'm finding it interesting that there is no consensus on all of this, so don't think it's just me!

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Shriven@reddit

So quite often it goes call police, police get circs and coordinate resources, and then if it's clear the person on the call needs expert Medical support transfer caller to ambulance call taker who will do their thing.

But most people calling are witnesses and are not providing emergency aid or attempting to survive injuries.

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GuestOk9310@reddit

They can't transfer you anymore, so if you're with a casualty then always ask for Ambulance control so that they can assist you with first aid instructions. They can also call other services if required.

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Pretty_Signal4186@reddit

I'm a former PCSO. That's the advice we were told to give. Police call handlers can and will run through the same medical checklist as an Ambulance call handler in most, if not all, English and Welsh force areas.

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iminvisibru@reddit

Police call handler may be able to support you with basic medical care based on experience and limited training but if a genuine medical emergency Ambulance call handlers are the ones with the scripts in front of them that tell you genuine medical advice

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Alt_AC_2023@reddit

I've always been told if you need more that one call the police and they'll call out the rest of the required services.

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OrganicPoet1823@reddit

Mountain rescue goes to the police normally

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-You_Cant_Stop_Me-@reddit

If people are crying and bleeding: Ambulance

If people are fighting and stealing: Police

If it's very hot all of a sudden: Fire Service

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sputnikmonolith@reddit

If it's very wet all of a sudden: Coastguard

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GuestOk9310@reddit

Just ask for any service, unless you're with a casualty, in which ask for Ambulance so that the call taker can give you first aid instructions.

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FluidLikeSunshine@reddit

I was taught that if multiple services are needed then in the first instance you ask for the police, you explain the situation to them and they will be able to quickly liaise with the other services needed

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Money-Pen8242@reddit

I was taught this too. I used to be a 999 call handler and if anyone asked for multiple services, you always went police first if they couldn’t choose. The police would then relay the request to the other services.

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iamabigtree@reddit

Police can call other services for sure. Not sure if eg Ambulance can call police.

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iminvisibru@reddit

Not sure why so many people have commented something similar. All control rooms are capable of and trained to liaise with other forces. Police may theoretically be better at coordinating but unless a crime is actively being committed they're not necessarily going to be first on scene/even going to attend

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AceNova2217@reddit

It's very weird because I was told, by a police constable no less, that the police are the only branch that can call other services at the same time.

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x3tx3t@reddit

Why do you think they wouldn't be able to...?

All emergency services work very closely with one another and have direct lines of communication.

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iamabigtree@reddit

Well I wasn't sure. And now that has been cleared up.

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Shriven@reddit

In my force, the fire control room is the corner of the police control room

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nancy-p@reddit

they absolutely can, and I always used to love calling the police because they’d answer the phone with ‘hello ambulance! ☺️’ which was much cheerier than the people you usually have to speak to (for obvious reasons, most people call because something terrible is happening!)

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tomgrouch@reddit

They can

Source: am ambulance service, have called for other emergency services

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AceNova2217@reddit

This is what I was taught too (by a police constable, coincidentally) during my first aid course. The police are the best branch for multi-service responses.

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pnlrogue1@reddit

This feels right. If an incident is large enough to need more than 1 emergency service then there's a good chance the police will be needed to block traffic/keep passers-by away/deal with witnesses or victims who don't need medical help but are still affected/etc unless there's a significant fire involved, in which case I'd probably speak to the fire brigade first as getting on top of that is probably quite urgent

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Ok-Elderberry-6761@reddit

I'd have thought the ambulance service would be the obvious choice, they give you medical instruction if helping injured parties and your information would help determine the reaponse required saving vital time and miscomunication compared to passing it through a third party (I've had the police phone me from the wrong carriageway when highways had passed them my information, not the end of the world sometimes but some junctions that alone is a 20 minute mistake) the police might ask questions about the scene but it's nothing they won't determine for themselves in half a second once they arrive.

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bibbiddybobbidyboo@reddit

I do this as ex ambulance. I can do a lot as long as they have told me to do it so I can give them the description at scene, and start triaging with them and they call the other services. Police or fire will get pulled through anyway and often get there first and then they take over the scene but at least if I’m treating someone, I’m doing so with the latest instructions incase something like CPR ratio changes.

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wintonian1@reddit

I was taught exactly this as well.

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Aeviv@reddit

Is someone hurt? Ambulance Is something burning? Fire Is someone being naughty? Police.

Joking aside, if in doubt, old Bill.

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fussyfez@reddit

I've seen advice that it's best to say fire brigade as they tend to be the least busy. The call handler will forward it to police and paramedics if necessary.

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bareneth@reddit

Police handle multi agency requests, but they cannot give medical advice. If you are unsure, you can ask for police but if you need specific medical advice then ask for ambulance.

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kaththegreat@reddit

As you tell whichever service you get to, they’ll start passing details over to the other service requested - or at least that’s how they did when I used to work at ambulance. Don’t worry too much about it.

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kartoffeln44752@reddit

Police

When in doubt they’re the generic one and they will sort it out.

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SocieteRoyale@reddit

I think you are over thinking the emergency services

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BabaYagasDopple@reddit

Just ask for the one you think it’s a priority, they will do the rest.

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Jezbod@reddit

Remember there is also Coast Guard and Bomb Disposal (usually ask for police and describe what you have "found").

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Armodeen@reddit

The first service you say (if you say more than one) is the one they connect you with, FYI

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justdont7133@reddit

Police call handler here, I get calls announced by the operator as "multiple request for police and ambulance/fire", so I assume you can ask for more than one (but I don't honestly know how they prioritise who to pass it to). What you can't do is tell the operator the story and expect them to decide, they will just keep asking the basic question again. As a police call handler I have no first aid training, I can't talk you through CPR etc, but I can pass a request to ambulance on a priority line and get them moving. They might ask me to hang up with you so they can phone you back for urgent medical instructions if it's really serious. If I was making the call, I'd base on who do I want there most urgently, if there's still danger of some sort like fighting, then police. If I need CPR instructions I'd go ambulance. Just for the love of God don't ring the Police "because it's only a small fire and I didn't want to waste a fire engine"

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Salty9876@reddit

You can ask for multiple and they will connect to them, then one call handler will take priority. I’ve regularly call police and ambulance, and police take the call and ambulance stay on the line to ask questions as well.

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x3tx3t@reddit

You don't need to specify one service. You can and should request multiple services if needed.

BT will then connect the call to one of those services and make the call handler aware that it is a request for multiple services.

I'm not sure which service BT prioritise connecting to for a multiple request, but my educated guess is that it will be ambulance > fire > police (the saving of life takes priority over everything else, and connecting to the ambulance service means the call handler can give first aid instructions while crews are on the way).

I have six years' ambulance service experience, the first three of which were in the control room as a call handler and dispatcher, and this was a common occurrence.

Ultimately though, it doesn't matter who you ask for or who you get connected to; the emergency services work together very closely, the control rooms for each service have direct lines to one another, and they will notify each other of any incidents that need multiple services.

Requesting multiple services from the beginning just gives the call handler a heads up at an early stage, eg. * Call connected as multiple request for ambulance and fire > mentally primed for some sort of fire or rescue incident with casualties (fire, road traffic collision, person trapped) * Call connected as multiple request for ambulance and police > mentally primed for potential danger (stabbing, assault) and so on.

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no_such_file@reddit

If you tell the BT call handler that you need multiple services, they will connect you to the Police, who coordinate the response and manage the incident.

Source: 999 call handler spouse.

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x3tx3t@reddit

That may be the case in some instances; as I said, I'm not sure what BT's protocols are and who they connect to in what circumstances.

What I can tell you is that as an ambulance call handler I regularly received calls that were multiple requests for ambulance & fire, or ambulance & police, or ambulance, police and fire.

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Sepalous@reddit

Police command the response to major incidents. A major incident is not the time to work out who is in charge.

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guzusan@reddit

“Depends who’s askin”

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Sepalous@reddit

All emergency services have the ability to contact the others but you should ask for the police if it's not obvious which one you need.

If you dial 999 and tell the operator you don't know which service you require or multiple services they'll put you through to the police as the default option. The reason being police command, coordinate, and control the response to major incidents.

Source police officer and 999 call handler.

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EUskeptik@reddit

Ask for the police. Based on what you say they will call out the other services.

-##-

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GlitchingGecko@reddit

In that situation, "Send everyone - Multiple injury RTA."

I've had to call for police and ambulance at the same time before. The police were more urgent because the person wasn't badly injured, so I asked for Police. When I got through to them I explained that someone was injured (They were heavily drunk and needed stitches) and needed medical attention as well, but it wasn't a 'blue-light' emergency.

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Competitive_Test6697@reddit

Should we have a more American setup with fire and ambulance together on calls?

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JeffSergeant@reddit

Should we have a more American setup-

No.

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x3tx3t@reddit

No.

Combined fire and ambulance services are almost universally hated by American firefighters and paramedics.

You end up with a situation where people apply to become firefighters because they want to break down doors and put out fires, but are then forced to train as EMTs/paramedics and spend most of their time attending trivial medical calls instead of fire and rescue calls.

This leads to a culture of paramedics who don't really care about being a paramedic, and aren't passionate about that aspect of their job.

The opposite also applies, where in order to become an EMT/paramedic you also have to be trained as a firefighter, which many EMTs/paramedics don't want to do and aren't interested in.

They are fundamentally different jobs and combining them is an awful idea.

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Kvark33@reddit

Emergency services are strained enough as it is, this would just add to it.

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another_awkward_brit@reddit

Whichever you get put through to, if it needs more than one service then the control room will contact the other service(s) necessary. The ones local to me have direct dial no's for that one purpose alone so it's a relatively quick job for them.

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mellonians@reddit

You answer "probably everything" and they put you through to the police and say "multiple services requested" the police operator then gets the gears in motion for the medics and the fire force to also attend.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

If ever in doubt. use the police. They will lease with the other services as necessary.

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Furicist@reddit

Priority is to make the area safe to prevent further casualties, ambulance can't do that, nor can fire necessarily, not as a primary role.

Think about examples:

Stabbing, police first, ambulance second.

Car accident, police first, ambulance and fire second.

Bar brawl, multiple injuries, police first, ambulance second.

Bombing, police first, fire and ambulance after.

The police is also by far the largest service. They all work together anyway so don't stress.

I've called the police for many things, kids climbing over the fence to a railway track, flooded unlit motorway with no restrictions, people scoping out houses on the road, they are perfectly capable of deciding what warrants their attention and who to send so there's no real issue with just calling them and seeing what they do, they're quite easy to talk to and talk like human beings so it really isn't a difficult conversation once you pick a service.

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ODFoxtrotOscar@reddit

If you’re not sure, then go for police, and tell them what else you might think will be needed. They’ll sort it

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no_such_file@reddit

If you need multiple services, always ask for the police first.

The Police will always coordinate the response between multiple services.

Source: 999 Call handler spouse.

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Pedantichrist@reddit

If you want an ambulance you say ‘ambulance’. If you want fire, you say ‘fire’. If you want police, or you want multiple agencies, you say ‘police’.

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Sheepeh94@reddit

Every time I’ve ever had to call 999 it’s been either ambulance, police or all 3 in truth - explain to the call handler and from there they seem to dispatch what they see fits.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

You could ask for the coastguard

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iminvisibru@reddit

Honestly you should be able to say at least two/all three and Operator will probably pass you through to whoever they can get the fastest.

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danielle1551@reddit

This happened to me once, I was stressed out😭😭 I don't see why they force you to pick one tbh

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tomgrouch@reddit

You can only talk to one service at a time, they need to know where to route the call so you do have to pick one

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PaulKarlFeyerabend@reddit (OP)

I felt exactly the same. I was in a panic and kept (very briefly) explaining the situation, but the handler just wanted me to pick one of the three and kept repeating the question until I choose one! Stressful.

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Alt_AC_2023@reddit

The handler did a crap job and perhaps you should complain.

As I understand it if you reply "all of them" to "which service do you require", they should have transferred you to the police.

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OrganicPoet1823@reddit

Because you have to be connected to one

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Trojanguido@reddit

First responder manager here. As others have said you pick the most important but don’t forget that each control room will then call the others needed. If it’s anything complex and fire is needed I would ask for fire due to call volume to the others, this lets you get what is likely the most available help on its way in numbers and you will have a controlOperator or operators who will start running the call.

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MadJohnFinn@reddit

Shout out to the nice switchboard lady who understood my panicked “err… I don’t know, but not the fire brigade” and guided me through a very scary situation a few months ago.

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OldCaptain3987@reddit

Control rooms have direct lines of communication. A situation like you say, a multi car RTC, it doesn’t really matter who you say. Everyone who’s needed there, will be there

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Responsible-Ad-1086@reddit

Coastguard

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spinningdice@reddit

Personally I'd say fire if there's an active fire that's putting more people in danger, Ambulance if there's injuries and no current threat of fire and anything else is police. Most urgent thing for the call.

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FornyHucker22@reddit

like my Greggs breakfast baguette order. “all three please”

tho sometimes they still look a bit gone out, huh?

bacon. sausage. omelette. the only three options you do 🤨

ahh.

🙎‍♂️🤦‍♂️

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OrganicPoet1823@reddit

They will pass the call onto other services as needed or other people may call.

Best advice is if someone is injured ring ambulance as they can give advice and first aid instructions over the phone which may save a life.

If your house is on fire, ring fire even if you need an ambulance as well as fire operators will give safety instructions and it will mobilise fire crews a few seconds quicker.

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