[chrisseaton]

I think it’s pretty unique to the US. In most places you have a police service, a fire service, and an ambulance service, all separate but working together. Makes sense they’re separate - different roles to specialise in and they move between different locations and leave the scene at different times.

[rtkwe]

The US is largely the same but fire services are sent out to a lot of those because they also have the tools to deal with getting access to patients and making the scene safe for ambulance crews. Sending them out immediately means you don't have to wait for them if the patient's door is locked or their car is all smashed up and you need fire services to peel the car apart to get to them.

[LorenPechtel]

But you actually need police, fire, rescue, and ambulance.

We group fire and rescue together because you sometimes have to get trapped people away from a fire.