How loud is a ambulance?
An emergency vehicle equipped to treat and transport patients, usually a box body on a van or truck chassis.
NIDCD puts sirens at 110-129 dBA. That is measured close to the siren, not inside a nearby building.
How that compares
Ambulance against things of a similar loudness.
How long you can safely listen
Immediately damaging — hearing protection is required for any exposure.
Decibels are logarithmic, which makes the intuitive arithmetic wrong in a way worth knowing: every 10 dB is ten times the sound energy, and two identical sources together are 3 dB louder than one — not double. So two 70 dB fans are 73 dB, not 140 dB.
Levels are measured at roughly one metre unless stated otherwise. Sound falls off with distance — about 6 dB per doubling — so the same appliance is noticeably quieter across a room than beside your ear.
More about an ambulance
- How much does a ambulance weigh? 3,200–6,800 kg
- How much does a ambulance cost? 150,000–450,000 $
- Ambulance vs Pickup truck Side by side
- Ambulance vs School bus Side by side
- Ambulance vs SUV Side by side
Common questions
- How loud is an ambulance?
- An ambulance reaches 110–129 dB. NIDCD puts sirens at 110-129 dBA. That is measured close to the siren, not inside a nearby building.
Related pages
- How much does a ambulance weigh? 3,200–6,800 kg
- How much does a ambulance cost? 150,000–450,000 $
- How loud is a motorcycle? 80–110 dB
- How loud is a fire truck? 110–129 dB
- Ambulance vs Pickup truck Side by side
- Ambulance vs School bus Side by side
- Ambulance vs SUV Side by side
Sources
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss — National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (Public domain (US Government))
- What Noises Cause Hearing Loss? — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Public domain (US Government))
- Occupational Noise Exposure — Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Public domain (US Government))