As we mentioned before, the questions are not slowing down the process in any way. Once we have your location and other vital info, help is already on the way. Officer safety issues, important medical information, and other scene size-up information are gathered during this interrogation process.
We are not the ones who are responding, and the people we are dispatching need to know what kind of situation they are getting into. It's our job to paint a picture of the scene as best as we can, and the only information we can pass along to these responders is what the caller, you, tells us!
If you have witnessed a crime, we will ask for other pertinent information, which we will then pass along to police via radio. For instance, descriptions of the person committing the crime (head-to-toe), if there is a vehicle involved (color, year, make/model, body style, license plate number, if there's any damage, direction of travel, etc). This helps the responding officers to find who they're looking for.
We will also ask on any potential police call if there are any weapons or injuries. This allows us to determine if EMS needs to be dispatched, and if it is safe for officers and/or EMS personnel to respond.