I retired after 35 years with Fire/EMS, in 2005. Department Officer, Haz-Mat, EMT-P, and Fire Officer III. Ran over 16,000 calls.
My turn-out gear carried a small tool box of things. A Pick-N-Pry, an older Pelican SuperSabre light, combination screw-driver, 8" adjustable wrench, a couple of USPS 36" straps (for bundling out mail on rural routes), a couple of wooden wedges, slip-joint pliers, and a 4" blade Case hunting knife. Folding knives can be hard to get into play with one hand in an emergency. The fixed-blade hunter is always ready, even if you have to ditch the sheath to access it.
On my belt has ridden a version of the Spyderco Delica. The first was a Standard, back when the clip was machined out of the scale. After that was another Standard, with the detachable clip. Both had the Spyder Edge.
My EMS turn-out gear had a sleeve pouch that held a Gerber 650, partially serrated. For those who aren't familiar with that knife, it is light weight, has a decent length blade, made of good steel, and can be opened with a flick of the wrist. The lock will also take some real weight without failing.
Many of today's knives, and the companies that made them, weren't available in the 1970s. Back then, I carried a Buck 110, the Folding Hunter, that I had bought in DaNang while vacationing in sunny SouthEast Asia.
Good luck with your path.