Why are there sometimes multiple responders and agencies at the same accident or medical emergency?
Very few E-911 callers can accurately describe or evaluate what has taken place. Sometimes they are frightened or over-whelmed or just too often, inarticulate. The dispatcher hits the call button for all the necessary emergency agencies when the E-911 call comes in and tries to get more information from the caller while the emergency vehicles are on route. If the dispatcher later determines that not all the units will be needed, the unneeded ones are called back. In the case of vehicle accidents, an ambulance is sent out; a fire rig is sent because the accident may require extrication equipment [to cut away metal] and may also involve gasoline spills or other Haz Mat materials; and of course the police or sheriff has to be sent. For example: when an ambulance dispatch call goes out for the City of Hailey, both Hailey and WRFR are notified. If the on-duty county ambulance has just left on another call or is some distance from Hailey, it is to everyone’s advantage for Hailey’s First Resp
