I worked the rescue truck last night, and nothing stellar happened. We did get to eat before the fools started running off the road. We were paged to a wreck with possible entrapment, three people injured. We were within 100 yards of the scene when we were cancelled, no one was trapped, although all 3 occupants were injured. We stopped to assist the ambulance crew with the patients, we were there for about 2 minutes when we were paged for a second wreck with possible entrapment. We took off, toward the second wreck, and immediately hit some dense fog, only 100 foot visibility is some areas. We had to shut off the code equipment, because of the poor visibility. After about 5 minutes, the ambulance arrived on the scene, and cancelled us. There was no injuries, no one entrapped. Some folks had run off the road, and were waiting for a wrecker. Someone on a cellphone called it in, I'm sure, and never stopped to see if it was actually a wreck.
PSA - On behalf of public safety workers everywhere, please, please, please, if you see what looks like a wreck but you're not sure if someone's hurt, take a minute to check it out before calling 911 if you can do so safely. Nobody needs to be sent to false alarms, they just tie up resources that may be needed elsewhere. I'm not talking about major wrecks with crumpled cars, where it's obvious that it's a miracle if somebody's not injured. That's a case of well, duh. I'm talking about a car off the road, in a ditch, etc. If in doubt, check it out.
And yes, I've dispatched to a MVA with injuries and entrapment that ended up being a guy changing a flat tire, or Farmer Bob parked his truck in his field. Or to an empty car on the side of the road, with dew on it, indicating it's been there all night. While these are funny, and make good stories, false calls tie up resources that may be needed elsewhere.
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