The term SAMU may refer to either the overall integrated emergency medical service of France, or to a local organisation that coordinates the service. A law in 1986 defined SAMU organizations as hospital-based services providing permanent telephone support, choosing and dispatching the proper response for a phone call request. The service is organized based on the departments of France. Each department has a hospital-based SAMU organisation which is named with the department's unique two-digit number code. For example, SAMU 06 covers Alpes-Maritimes (including Nice) while SAMU 75 covers Paris.
