The French fire brigade are not just called out for fires. Trained and equipped to deal with medical emergencies, they are very helpful and important and used in most cases: 18.
They provide an ambulance service with their specially equipped vans. In France, it is very often the fire brigade who are called first to deal with road injuries and domestic accidents and in many areas, especially rural regions, they will be fastest to the scene. They coordinate with all other emergency services.