I know that you don't have to "declare" an emergency in the US and it worked... I have flown in the US and even though it's more relaxed it usually works. I agree THEY didn't screw up the radio call even though it was misinterpreted by the controller. The fact that it was the minimum required by FAA doesn't mean it was the best call to make and couldn't have been done better. People get very touchy when a view differs from there's and get quite upset when a good debate is what helps people understand why things are wrong, such as why an aircraft was left on the runway for 5 minutes.