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If you’ve ever wondered if there’s a difference between police, ambulance and fire department sirens, stay tuned.
Difference between police, ambulance and fire department sirens
When the siren sounds on the road, everyone makes way, regardless of whether it is an emergency vehicle from the police, fire department or ambulance.
- The horn is actually referred to as a siren, but in Germany the term “Martinshorn” has become widely used.
- The DIN 14610 standard regulates the sound made by the siren. This stipulates that although the pitch of different horns may differ, it must be between 360 Hz (F sharp) and 630 Hz (D sharp);
- The tone interval used must also be a pure fourth;
- In addition, the standard stipulates that there should be two different signals, one for use in the countryside and one for use in the city;
- The country horn is often in the range 362 to 482 Hz, the city horn has frequencies from 410 to 547 Hz.
Unique distinction between emergency vehicles in Germany and Austria
In some countries, such as Germany, it is not necessarily possible to distinguish between police, fire department and ambulance vehicles.
- After all, the standard DIN 14610 does not stipulate that the following horns of police, fire department and ambulances must be different. Therefore, it is not really possible in this country to recognize the type of emergency vehicle by the siren.
- The situation is different in Austria. There, there are different tone sequences for police (“Tatüü-Tatütatütatüüü”), fire brigade (“Tatüü Tatüüü”) and ambulance (“Tüütaa Tüütaa”).
- In Austria, unlike in Germany, it is not mandatory to use the siren and blue light together. In clear situations, only the blue light is usually used. Otherwise, the siren is also used.
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