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Drive Off
Who knows this question about what it means when ambulances shut of their lights as they drive off?

Today their was an ambulance at my neighbors house and he said that they drove off and turned around, but when they was turning around they shut off their lights and my cousin told me that if they shut off their lights when they drive off, it means that person has died. Is that true??

When we are leaving the scene, there are several reasons that we may turn the emergency lights off. It could be that no transport was made. For example, the person who called does not need emergency medical assistance.

An example of this would be a person who was choking in a restaurant. A call could be made to 911 and an ambulance dispatched. In the meantime, another diner could perform the Heimlich maneuver, and when the ambulance arrives, the person who was choking does not want to go to the hospital.

In other cases we will turn off the emergency lights, when doing a non emergency transport. This would be a case where a person needed medical attention, and was not able to go via private auto, but it was not an emergency situation. A cancer patient who is too weak to walk, or is having a reaction to a treatment, would be a non emergency transport!

In some cases, it is better to turn off the lights and siren, due to the patent’s mental condition. In some drug cases (PCP and the like) it is better to have a calm ride to the hospital, rather than having the patient become agitated.

There are many reasons that the ambulance would turn off the lights. It does not mean that someone died!