What is the difference between an Aid Unit, Medic Unit, and Ambulance?
Emergency medical services are delivered in a layered or tiered response. The first units to respond are fire engines or aid units staffed with firefighters/EMT’s from the fire stations. Depending on the nature of the emergency, paramedics are either requested by the fire apparatus/aid unit, or are dispatched at the same time. Medic units, with paramedics, perform Advanced Life Support (ALS), in addition to the Basic Life Support (BLS) emergency medicine that the firefighters provide. ALS includes physician level procedures such as endotrachial intubation, intravenous fluid and drug therapy, cardiac defibrillation, and advanced emergency trauma treatment.
