US firefighters trained to give emergency ambulance cover

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 20:21

Many countries struggle to marry the need to provide emergency services with their particular landscape and population.

Scotland could look to the US as a model, where firefighters are medically trained and also provide emergency ambulance cover. Similarly, Hong Kong Fire Service also provides ambulance cover and has almost 9,000 paramedics.

In Austria, major emergency services only operate in six main cities, however fire departments exist in even the smallest villages, where they contribute to community life, by organising fairs and other fund-raising activities.

In Chile, firefighters are called bomberos. They are volunteers and have to finance the acquisition, maintenance and operation of their buildings and equipment, rather than rely on the government.

Finland, like northern Scotland, is extremely rural and relies heavily on volunteers to tackle the 12,000 fires that break out every year across the country.