My mom fell a year ago and I got her up in the chair. She had the Flu and was real weak. I didn't want to chance taking her to the ER myself due to the outside Temps and ice in her driveway. I had concern she would fall again and I would not be able to get her in the car or I would fall and we would both be down. So I called an ambulance on their regular phone number. I also said non emergency. The VFD's got there first and I didn't know they had been dispatched.
They dispatch FD's for things you don't think about but they do from experience. Needed extra lifting help, locked doors, an extra onboard paramedic on site if they get there and need two persons going to the hospital working with the patient in cases like CPR. In general it's a good policy that helps save lives. Many Fireman are medically cross trained.
You'd have firefighters holed up in their stations for weeks at a time with nothing going on. Getting them involved in other types of calls keeps them sharper and more alert in my opinion - even though there is undoubtably a lot more expense involved.