I'm not sure if this is standard everywhere, but firefighters are pretty much first responders to everything where I'm from. My mom had a heart attack 3 weeks ago (she's fine and recovering well thankfully), and two firefighters showed up about 5 minutes before the ambulance to check her vitals and assess everything. These guys were both incredible at their job and really made us all feel a lot more comfortable in an obviously difficult situation. By the time the ambulance came my Mom was so calmed down that we were starting to think it was most likely not a heart attack until the medics ran an ECG.

They also literally saved my Uncle's life about 15 years ago when he was in a serious car accident (jaws of life type situation). So yea, anyone that thinks they just sit around and sometimes fight fires is ignorant as fuck...