We had a medical emergency and needed an ambulance. Why did a fire truck come too?

A fire truck is sent out with every medical call to ensure that qualified medical personnel arrive quickly. As the ambulance service is a volunteer agency, sometimes there may be a delay in staffing an ambulance to respond. We also send a fire truck on medical calls because of the extra manpower needed for some lifesaving procedures. The extra medical personnel need to have the firefighting apparatus with them in case another emergency occurs before they return to the station.