Firefighters, EMT's, Police - If they are on duty and in a restaurant, get a call and have to leave immediately, does the restaurant comp. their meal?

Every case is unique. I would think that the guys should simply throw down a $10 or $20 as they are rushing out the door to avoid any sense of impropriety.

In about every case, if they are actually on duty, they won’t be in the restaurant. They will either be at their station or in their car.
But having said it, I would expect that in most cases most conscientious public servents would make a reasonable attempt to pay, at least after the fact, and many restaurant owners might make a gesture and say forget it. Can’t prove any of that however.

I worked for the Ambulance service. We would always pay – later. When would return, the food would be wrapped up in to-go bags. Nice.

@LuckyGuy thanks, I wondered. We felt that it should be a case of if it is an emergency, I’ts on us.

@josie I just know that occasionally, you will see a firetruck or an ambulance at an establishment and figured that if you were in the “official” vehicle, there was a good chance you were still on the clock.

They are a fast food crowd. Firefighters eat at the station. So the cops have toss a Big Mac in the trash. Big loss. or “mac loss”