There’s nothing rudimentary in the skill set today’s medics are expected to mnage. From an increased pharmacopeia to more complex treatments it will not be long until being a paramedic will require a 4 year degree.
Firefighting, OTOH, is at a bit of a crossroads. Budget weary governments are looking at what Firefighters do, and how much they cost. This is the only reason many fire departments have acquired EMS,to maintain heir budgets. Problem is, EMS is considered the redheaded step child of the fire service...looked down upon and minimized in both attitudes and budget. EMS typically does 75% of the call volume in a fire deprtment, yet gets less than 15% of the budget.
Firefighters are necessary...no urban area can exist without a dedicated force...but that force can and should do more than wait for the next fire. Either they can explore and embrace those changes wilingly, or they can have them forced upon them.
It might make sense to combine the firefighters and paramedics into one department as skills overlap in many areas. Obviously we would still want to still send a fire truck with the ambulance in medical situations for reasons discussed above. Then you would need specialization between firefighters and the EMTs but they would complement each other in most situations.