why are UK and USA ambulances different colors? // + sirens, cost, and more!

To quote Eric Morecambe, "He's not going to sell much ice cream going at that speed."

A friend of mine is part of a UK mountain rescue team. He told me that they once had a call out to an American who had broken his leg. They found him and were giving his first aid when they told him that they were calling a helicopter to get him off the mountain. Within minutes they became concerned as the man's blood pressure shot up, he became pale and started to sweat profusely. They could not understand what was causing it as it was not a bad break. It turned out that the man was terrified that he would be bankrupted by the cost of the helicopter. Once he found out that the whole rescue, helicopter, and medical treatment were free, everything went back to normal. In the UK we would regard it as inhuman to pile financial agony on top of the physical and emotion trauma of being sick or injured.

It’s always a surprise that US ambulances don’t have a credit/debit card machine to take payment before they set off to the hospital.

I heard that in US ambulances the siren sound is generated by the hospital bound patient, after he or she is given the cost of the journey causing them to scream into a microphone which sends the sounds through a translater gadget that filters it to the outside world as a siren!😂

It is absolutely incredible that Air Ambulance transport, complete with a highly skilled doctor and staff, is also free in the UK.

As a UK EMT 4:29 we call this process “Intelligent Blues” which put the use of the siren in the drivers judgment. We quite often turn off sirens when there is reduced traffic or late at night

Had 2 ambulance rides this year, both followed by a few days in hospital. Definitely glad I'm in the UK.

Seems to me that Paramedics in the US don't care if you die or not, all they want is your money, same with US Doctors and Nurses in Hospitals. If these people got together they could force Congress to change the Federal Laws for free rides to the Hospital and maybe even change the whole health care system as well. Only 8 countries don't have free health care, but only the US has the highest fees subjected on to the people that need medical treatments, hence why many Americans would rather stay home, go to work when injured or ill. Oh by the way for all Americans reading this, your system is the same as these so called 3rd world countries - Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, and South Africa.

If you see an ambulance on blues, the way to tell whether it's on the way to a patient, or on the way to hospital with the patient, is to look at the front passenger seat. If there's a patient on board, that seat will be empty because the attendant is with the patient in the back. If that seat isn't empty, there's no patient on board, so they are travelling to a patient.

UK emergency service vehicles typically use sirens with 3 modes: wail, yelp and phaser. The wailing is easier to hear at a distance but is difficult to locate in direction, the faster yelp is only effective at shorter range but is easier to get a bearing on. The phaser is used when they're very close to you and basically means "here I am, get the f*** out of my way!". Incidentally they will keep the lights on but turn off the sirens if they're stuck behind you and you temporarily can't (legally) get out of their way, e.g. at a red light.

My husband had a mini stroke a few weeks ago - I wasn't sure what was wrong with him as he was just acting strange and couldn't speak coherently. I rang 111 and the operator sent an ambulance for him. It arrived in about 10 mins and the ambulance crew/paramedics were fantastic, treating him before setting off for the hospital - they only put the sirens on when we were approaching junctions where the traffic was at a standstill. And no bill to pay!

Because of 'free' ambulance and health care in the UK many Americans believe we live in a Communist or quasi-Communist state.

Hi. I’m a 70+ pensioner in South Wales. Over the passed 10 years I’ve called for an ambulance 3 times. When I was a child my dad was a greengrocer & fruiterer with a mobile shop. He used to have an open sided Bedford truck, in the winter we get sideways rain and my dad would get soaked to the skin. I remember dad coming home in the rain and pegging currency notes over the fire hearth. Then, an improvement, he bought an old Morris Ambulance that was about 8 years old. A covered roof, doors with a canopy and fruit & veg displayed in purpose-built units. Lasted for years and dry inside. I have kidney failure and the Welsh Ambulance takes me back and fore from home to the dialysis unit 3 times a week. As you mentioned these are non-emergency vehicles but white with yellow/green markers and no siren. These have a driver & assistantwith the passenger seat used for wheel chairs. The rear has a pavement side door with a step. Four seats that can be adjusted either to sit on or have a wheelchair fixed with the chairs seat raised. Some will have a stretcher, others 2 more seats. To enable stretcher access the rea door has either a ramp or an electric stretcher wheelchair lift There is no cost to me but i still pay income tax on my company & state pension.

When ambulances were white they did stand out as that was not a popular colour for normal vans at the time. By the time the concept of "white van man" had started they were already adding reflective stripes, flashing lights etc to ambulances. They normally leave the sirens off if there is a clear stretch of road in front of them.

$1000-$4000 for an ambulance blows my mind!

My father belonged to the St.John Ambulance Brigade. Back in the 50s, he would spend one evening a week as a volunteer ambulance driver where the Brigade ran a stand by service for the less urgent cases.

The first time I heard that there is a charge for an ambulance in America I honestly couldn't believe it. In my naivety I thought that since the police and fire brigade/department is paid for through general or local taxation even in America, ambulances would be financed in the same way.

An interesting comparison between the two countries again. Although UK ambulance services are part of the NHS, in recent years more and more of the ambulances on the road- even the emergency response vehicles- are actually sub-contracted from Private Ambulance services. Up to a point this is a good thing- if the NHS is short of vehicles or crews, it makes sense to buy in a private contractor to cover the shortfall. However, we have to be careful that this practice isn't being used to run down the in-house service!

Your comment on a British Ambulance not using its siren when it does not need too and just uses it's lights is so true from someone who lives near a hospital. I was at the Open in Troon today having a chat about the golf in a pub and an American mentioned he saw someone getting taken away in an Ambulance and asked me how much that will cost her. I said nothing. I said we have universal health care here. He was not happy about that lol.

Another well researched video Kayln. I read a news story recently where a young women from the US travelling around Europe with her boyfriend had some form of medical emergency in London and was horrified when someone called an ambulance as she was of the opinion that it would have to be paid for like in the US. She relaxed when it was pointed out to her that there is no charge for an ambulance ride in the UK. $1000-$4000 for an ambulance ride, especially where there is no medical treatment administered is just outrageous.