Fire departments and ambulances

[Sophia]

I think your description is mostly how it is in most places here, with the different services.   But, more than one might be needed.  So, a house fire is likely to get the fire and ambulance services. 

Although, I seem to remember a fiction series by W.E.B. Griffin about cops in Philadelphia mentioned a few times that no matter what the emergency, one of the services ALWAYS came out.  Maybe the fire department?  Don't know if that was research-based truth or fiction for color. 

They have rules about what they can each do, and who should do what.  My grandfather went from being alive to cremated without ever being examined by an official person.  The ambulance was called, but they "don't transport dead people". 

[RebeccainGA]

In Little Rock, there was the main ambulance service (county funded, but privately managed) and two or three private ambulance services who mainly did point to point transport (like nursing home to hospital, hospital to hospital, etc). They were all run out of their own offices, and dispatched through 911 or had direct phone numbers. Fire rescue, a separate function related to ambulances (they only do truly dangerous stuff, I understand, and not much transportation of patients) was housed in and run by the city fire department. Also, they apparently do the 'medical, but won't need transport' stuff, like when DP fell coming home from the hospital and we couldn't get her in the house (too much anesthesia and too soon after surgery to release her). WONDERFUL. Took three of them to get her up (she was still re-learning how to walk and wasn't much help).

In Buford, GA, where we live now, the ambulances are owned by and run by the county, and are housed and dispatched from the fire station. They roll both an ambulance and a fire truck to all emergencies, where possible. They were SO nice when I had to call them during DP's 105 fever delirium - I was afraid they'd think we were nuts, but I was afraid to transport her, for fear she'd start seizing. The fever had gone up 1 degree in 30 minutes, and it was a 40 minute drive to the nearest ER. 

[misha412]

It definitely depends on where you live.

Currently, I live in a small town in a moderately populated county in the mountains of western North Carolina. Our local fire department is a mixture of mainly volunteers with a couple of paid firefighters. The fire department has an EMS unit. Also in our little town we have a county ambulance station.

Just a couple of days ago, a neighbor of mine called 911 for assistance with a health issue. Members of our local fire department responded. These members have training as basic paramedics. The EMS unit responded from the fire department along with other volunteers in their own vehicles. The paramedics evaluated and stabilized the lady having problems. Within a few minutes, the county ambulance arrived and did the transport to the hospital. The EMS unit can transport in an emergency, but they mainly stabilize and evaluate the patient until the ambulance arrives.

Our town contracts with the county to provide police coverage. So, any time someone calls 911 and needs police coverage we get a sheriff's car out.

Our volunteer fire department also has training in remote rescue. This area is mountainous and quite regularly someone will get lost or hurt in a remote area. Our team, along with other local departments, send out search and rescue groups at least a few times a year. Horses and ATVs are part of the package.

Up until about a decade ago, I lived in a major city in Florida. All services were provided by either the county or the city. There were no volunteers. The paramedics that responded to medical emergencies were affiliated and stationed at the fire departments, but were their own department. Living in a coastal area, the police and fire departments kept boats to handle emergencies on the water.

[jedikaiti]

What's AA?  I've heard of Triple A...not Double A

The Automobile Association.

There's no 3rd A here, because, well, we're not American 

Over here, I usually hear of AA as Alcoholics Anonymous.

[Katana_Geldar]

Ambulance and Fire and separate in Australia, you pay an ambulance levy if you use one but Heath insurance will cover a limited amount of ambulance services per year.

[mmswm]

I'll agree that in the US, it just depends on the city/town/rural area where you live.  Where I live now, the EMS services are combined with the fire department and called "Fire Rescue". There are privately owned and hospital owned ambulance services that are used for point to point transfers, but if you call 911, you're getting fire rescue. Fire rescue also has the specialty services that might be required around here, such as underwater search and rescue and the venom response units (venomous snakes are a problem sometimes). Now that I think about it, both the city and county police also have urban search and rescue units as well, but those wouldn't be activated unless the situation was catastrophic.

[katycoo]

Ambulance and Fire and separate in Australia, you pay an ambulance levy if you use one but Heath insurance will cover a limited amount of ambulance services per year.

Not in Qld.  In Qld their ambulance is free as its covered under a separate tax they pay (I think connected to the water rates)

[Katana_Geldar]

Well, in NSW then.

[NOLAGal]

In the city my parents live in, EMS is part of the Police Department and dispatched through the 9-1-1 system.
I live in the next town over and EMS is private and is dispatched through the 9-1-1 system.
In our cases, EMS is not part of the Fire Dept., although, the firefighters do have basic emergency medical training.  Also, our fire departments are part paid/part volunteer meaning that the people who drive the fire trucks are paid and everyone else is volunteer.