# New Ambulance Siren Sound! WTF is that? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 13, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797 "2013-09-13T20:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/1 "2013-09-13T20:39:05Z")
Driving along city streets, I heard a sound I’d never heard before. Sort of like a twittering or warbling bird-call, high pitched. High for a second, low for a second. I had no idea what it could be. Absolutely new to me. Then I go around a corner and am nearly face-to-face with an oncoming ambulance! (The bad news, he was across the center divider and in oncoming lanes! The good news, there were two oncoming lanes, so I didn’t block him. But he honked the hell out of me!) YIKES! How is someone supposed to know? It didn’t sound like any siren I’d ever heard. It could have been a warning for a big truck backing up. It could have just been a car alarm, and we hear (and ignore) those all the damn time! Maybe a Public Service Announcement on tv and radio? Fair warning? Damn! (Would a judge be at all sympathetic to this defense if I’d gotten a ticket for obstructing the ambulance?) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/2 "2013-09-13T21:04:51Z")
Well, the first rule of right-of-way we taught in sailing classes applies here: Don’t hit anything. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/3 "2013-09-13T21:45:03Z")
I certainly hit the brakes! (And the curb!) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/4 "2013-09-13T22:52:39Z")
Heh, sometime in the mid-'60s I was on a school trip to Washington, DC. Sometime just before the trip, I had seen the 1951 version of the _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ on TV and it had left a pretty strong impression. I was walking down the street with a classmate when we heard this unearthly “woop-woop” sound, getting louder and louder. We started looking around for the UFO we thought was landing, then saw that an approaching ambulance was making the noise. First time I ever heard one of those electronic sirens, rather than the old-school spinning kind, you see. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/5 "2013-09-13T23:47:53Z")
I’ve heard that people are incredibly good at simply tuning out the sound of any type of siren, but the one thing that’s actually known to help prevent that is to switch to different siren noises constantly. So they’ve ended up with a whole bunch of new noises these days. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/6 "2013-09-14T00:26:30Z")
If they’re going to change the siren, maybe they should just use a speaker that goes “Am-bu-lance! Am-bu-lance! Am-bu-lance!” ---
**Author:** ![Penny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@Penny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penny)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/7 "2013-09-14T00:36:38Z")
I wonder how long it will be before the new siren sound makes its way into hip hop tunes. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/8 "2013-09-14T00:47:42Z")
Sounds like some PSA’s would be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/9 "2013-09-14T02:30:47Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > I’ve heard that people are incredibly good at simply tuning out the sound of any type of siren, but the one thing that’s actually known to help prevent that is to switch to different siren noises constantly. So they’ve ended up with a whole bunch of new noises these days. Well, the last time this happened (around here) they fixed up sirens that alternated between the standard “Dragnet” siren of my childhood, and the see-sawing high-low “British” siren. Fire trucks would sound one, then the other, back and forth. And break it up with a harsh nasty “HONK” for good measure. Maybe they should have broken in this new sound by alternating it with the old sounds. (Intriguing that people would filter out the sounds of sirens. To me, they are a sound I can’t ignore! Like a baby crying next door: I wish I could tune it out!) ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/10 "2013-09-14T03:14:28Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (Intriguing that people would filter out the sounds of sirens. To me, they are a sound I can’t ignore! Like a baby crying next door: I wish I could tune it out!) I can’t filter out the sound of a siren either - sets my teeth on edge like nails on a blackboard. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/11 "2013-09-14T10:34:15Z")
As the father of a three-year-old boy, all siren sounds now mean “Ooo! Let’s go see the fire truck/ambulance/police car!” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/12 "2013-09-14T11:39:47Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > If they’re going to change the siren, maybe they should just use a speaker that goes “Am-bu-lance! Am-bu-lance! Am-bu-lance!” They could do it backwards, so that it sounds correct from behind you. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/13 "2013-09-17T16:55:51Z")
lance-bu-Am? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/14 "2013-09-17T17:51:22Z")
Got any links to sound files for this new siren? ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/15 "2013-09-17T18:17:17Z")
Was it this? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2CTcJmT3PPc/maxresdefault.jpg "Sunstar Ambulance Lights And Siren") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CTcJmT3PPc) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/16 "2013-09-17T19:43:05Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > As the father of a three-year-old boy, all siren sounds now mean “Ooo! Let’s go see the fire truck/ambulance/police car!” Big Grin! > [@kayaker](#): > > They could do it backwards, so that it sounds correct from behind you. Bigger Grin!! > [@saje](#): > > Was it this? > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CTcJmT3PPc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CTcJmT3PPc) Yes! The first part of the sound, the twittering warbling bit. The video goes on to play a regular whiny Dick Tracy siren, but the first bit, the “car alarm” tweeting, was what threw me for a loss. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/17 "2013-09-17T19:50:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > They could do it backwards, so that it sounds correct from behind you. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-ambulance-siren-sound-wtf-is-that/668797/18 "2013-09-18T04:51:51Z")
The emergency vehicles here all use different sirens so I’ve gotten used to listening for anything that dopplers.