Fire commission approves $218,447 EMS pain‑med study as chief warns of deepening city budget gap

The San Francisco Fire Commission on Feb. 26 approved a $218,447 grant for the Fire Department’s emergency medical services to participate in a study comparing fentanyl and ketamine for prehospital trauma pain, while department leaders outlined staffing, training and wellness programs and warned of major city budget shortfalls.

The vote passed after a presentation from Mark Corso, the department’s finance director, and a program briefing from Deputy Chief Chi Pang. Corso told the commission the funding is routed from the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity through the University of Pittsburgh and the Regents of the University of California, San Francisco. Deputy Chief Chi Pang described the research: “The PAIN study stands for a prehospital analgesia interventional study,” Pang said, explaining the randomized, double‑blind protocol will compare pain control, blood‑pressure effects and mortality for patients in shock who cannot give consent.

The study approval is retroactive in form because contractual paperwork was delayed, Corso said; the department has not received funds and will be reimbursed for approved costs. Pang said training for the study has already reached about 350 paramedics; enrollment of patients will be gradual because the study targets trauma patients who meet a shock…