Personal experience, nothing more.
mmm
Actually, I agree with what Urbanredneck said. Sometimes the guys at the firehouse just want to get involved because there’s nothing interesting happening back at the station. Sure, they’re going to officially claim they’re there to lend support.
I base this on having known a lot of small town volunteer fireman.
I work for the gov’t, so I know well about slavishly following rules whether or not they make sense in a particular situation. But this one struck me as especially silly, wasteful, and potentially dangerous.
Let me elaborate on the scene. We live in a neighborhood of single family homes in a suburb of Chicago. The firehouse - where the truck and ambulance are stationed - is maybe 1 mile away down a major road. The hospital is maybe 1 mile away in the other direction down the same road. The neighbor is a tiny old woman - MAYBE she weighs 100#. Her house is a split level, so there were 7 steps from her bedroom to the front door. For the past year, her adult children have been staying with her. I presume they called 911, and were able to provide all of the above info - and open the door.
I assume it costs some $ to send a hook and ladder out of the station. I also imagine there are some non-zero risks of MVA or personal injury to the firefighters associated with attending a call.
If the truck crew had been on alert, the ambulance personnel could have called them and they could have gotten there within 2 minutes.
The possible “Hey look at me” factor is supported by the fact that the truck sat there on a VERY quiet residential street, at 67 a.m., with all of its lights flashing. Man, as bright as those lights might seem in your rearview mirror, that is NOTHING compared to in the dark parked in front of your house! But they couldn’t be troubled to flip a switch and put on some less intrusive lights (assuming firetrucks can put on - say - warning flashers)? Believe me - there was no way to miss that truck and ambulance on that street, whether the lights were all going or not.
As wolfpup suggests, I would be interested in learning how the # of calls is factored into various salaries/budgets.
Thanks for all of your answers. I can imagine some sense in the responses. In this particular instance, however, sending the big truck impresses me as unnecessary and foolish.
My son-in-law’s dad was a fireman for a number of years. Next time I see him, I’ll ask his experiences/opinions.
That’s a bog-standard bit of US slang. Been around for years. Refers to useless spectators in an environment where they could be useful if they tried.
It’s also used in the real estate industry to refer to folks who sport-shop for houses, attending open houses and sales tours with zero intent to buy.
Lookie Lous are the gnats of the sales world. They buzz around in great number and get in the way but aren’t quite as objectionable as a biting or stinging insect would be. They must endured, not swatted.
To quit sending fire apparatus on the more serious medical calls, my city would have to add a third person to the ambulance crews. But they can’t take anyone from the fire engine, because it’s already running at the minimum level of staffing as well. So, they either send both trucks, or have everyone get on the ambulance and leave the engine out of service for even longer.
Why is the 3d person needed?
Two people can only do so much. A person who fell down and just needs help back up does not need the same care as someone who had chest pains and is now unconscious.
The setup where I used to live in the U.S. is exactly opposite this. Firefighters are all trained as EMTs; since they usually get to the scene faster (since there are more engine companies than medic units), the firefighters are able to begin the basic treatments (pulse, BP, oxygen and CPR if needed) before the paramedics arrive. The CRTs and paramedics arrive in the medic unit and EMS supervisor unit.
Sure, but then why not send 4? Or 5…
Only partially kidding. Trying to figure out the logistics. I thought I usually saw stretchers wheeled with one person at the head and foot. One can drive and the other attend the person in the back.
I used to have a buddy who was an EMT for the Chicago FD. I remember him saying when a call involved a truly heavy person, the one thing you could bet on was that they wouldn’t be on the ground floor! 
I know it was touched on, but I want to reinforce that in some cities (like mine), the fire trucks and ambulances are housed together in one building and all driven by (more or less) the same people. Back when I first got to know the FFs, only one was both a FF and and EMT (but I think they were all first responders). That was about 10 years ago. I asked again a few days ago and I was told nearly all the FFs are now EMTs as well.
Basically, it’s not that someone requested an ambulance, the fire station picked it up and decided to roll out as well, from a totally different location across town. It could be (as it is in my city), all the same people in the same building.
While I’m sure a lot of the above reasons are true, to a point, taking a fire truck, may also just be because it’s another vehicle. But the fact that the fire truck has the muscle does seem like an awfully good one. It’s like when a friend calls me to take a look at an outlet. I don’t just bring a meter and a screwdriver. I bring my entire tool bag since I’ll probably need pliers and wire nuts, maybe a drywall saw or PVC cutter because they neglected to tell me it was an outdoor outlet that a racoon chewed through. That whole ‘be prepared’ thing really stuck with me.
Maybe you should try reading and thinking about things before you respond? Not every response has to be from an “expert” or be a college level thesis backed up by research notes.
Sometimes my ass is smarter than you think.
Thank YOU! Some people on this board expect every response to be from “experts” only.
And you do bring up the question of maybe their could be some new type of vehicle which would hold more rescuers and equipment than a normal ambulance but need not be as big as a full firetruck.
Some medical cases need two people working on the patient. A third is then needed to drive.
Doesn’t even need to be new, they already have “quick response” vehicles. This one happens to be a mini pumper, but the important thing about it is all the storage cabinets for gear. Without all the pumping equipment you have extra room for a jaws of life, extension ladder, and other bulkier items. This particular model also has the advantage of a full size cab to bring along extra personnel: Fire Trucks | Danko Emergency Equipment
If a person needing help weight 300 lbs. or more it going to take more than 2 people to lift them. I was a health aide and a client of mine that weight about 99
lbs. feel in her apartment and her niece called 911 when men saw my client lying on the floor they started to laugh,and she got upset. The men told her they were worried about having enough people b/c they had a 300 lbs. to lift the last time.
Looks like an ideal vehicle. Holds 4-5 plus plenty of gear and I’d bet its better on gas.
Some of it is that patients require another pair of hands
Some situations do often call for a big toolbox on wheels, namely car accidents
Part of it is justifying increase FD budget via inflation of “requests for service”.
Depending on situation, fire is often there faster and is able to hit and run since they are less prone to be stuck with a patient for long.
By running medical assist as a matter of policy means more fire apparatus/firefighters needed. This also results in greater resources available when “the big one” happens.
Fire and police are huge expenditures and many a city council has cut deeply into such budgets based on need based purely on fire/rescue needs. When SHTF then they dont have enough resources/manpower to deal with the situation. Thus by getting involved in medical aid on a regular basis, they better justify their existence to those who do not see the need for large scale idle firefighting equipment.
about 10 years ago there was a major issue when 3 fires broke out in Clovis CA in a 30-40 minute span. The second fire tapped several of the nearby Fresno, CA engine companies. When the 3rd hit the nearest Fresno Fire engines took 11 minutes to arrive to an apartment fire in a downstairs apartment, 6 units of the apartment building were heavily involved when the first engine pulled in from halfway across town. A disabled person unable to escape without assistance died in that fire.
These are the kind of scenarios that fire departments need to be able to handle, but at some point they can get overwhelmed and serious loss of life and property can result.
These already exist. But they aren’t necessarily a way to save money. You still need regular fire trucks too, and now you have this other thing that needs to be bought and stored and maintained.
Nailed it. Also, for this reason, fire trucks are equipped and staffed to perform basic ambulance duties. If you’re just taking someone on a spineboard to the ER an hour away, a ladder truck can handle that just fine.
I always thought it was “Lookie-LOOs,” not “Lookie Lous.”
I’m not prepared to stop thinking that.