All requests for medical assistance need to be answered. In France, the public “Service d'Aide Medicale d'Urgence” (SAMU) receives the calls and can send, if necessary, mobile physician-staffed ambulances. SAMU works in coordination with the police, the fire brigade and general practitioners.

Response to the request for medical assistance from the public has been solved in different ways, such as agreement on a single call number for certain countries, and whether or not to use a physician-staffed system. In France, the first mobile emergency and resuscitation units (SMUR) were created in 1967. This initiative was taken by anesthesiologists, some surgeons, and military physicians belonging especially to the fire brigade of Paris, and to the seafaring-men of Marseille. The necessity of centralizing coordinating calls and radio controlling the public means of assistance has led to the creation of the Emergency Aid Services or SAMU.