Can't speak for other areas, but in London we don't ask for the patient's name at all. The dispatch desks will send out an ambulance if possible/appropriate after getting the address and what is wrong. As for your fire drill idea... yes please!! Children actually tend to be rather good at calling for ambulances, they don't shout or tell you to hurry up like adults do, although admittedly they aren't great at providing medical details. If you taught them what to do in school, I'd bet they would go home and teach it to their parents. Also, any foreign person who moves to England should immediately be sent to Ambulance School since these people are responsible for 90% of the frustrating/inappropriate calls/requests for pizza, presumably through a lack of understanding exactly what 999 and ambulances are for.