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San Francisco EMS details pandemic surge planning, decedent testing and new dispatch tools
Summary
San Francisco EMS Agency briefed the commission on Mohawk coordination, a communication and transport hub, the CADDIE level-loading dispatch tool, a decedent testing unit (230 tests to date), and deployment of mechanical CPR devices to reduce provider exposure.
Jim Duran and Dr. John Brown updated commissioners on the EMS Agency's multi-pronged COVID response and ongoing 9-1-1 operations.
Dr. Brown described the Mohawk function (medical-health operations coordinator) that connects San Francisco to regional and state resource channels; he said the agency has logged roughly 64 resource requests ranging from federal medical stations to cleaning supplies. The agency also supported transfers from surge-affected counties and distribution of state-allocated remdesivir where required.
Jim Duran reviewed EMS surge planning and the communication/transport hub that supports interfacility and shelter transport; DPH's emergency-transport pool includes up to about 15 paratransit vans and five BLS ambulances in regular deployment. Duran said a decedent testing unit began in late June and had completed roughly 230 tests at the time of the briefing; three decedents had tested positive.
Dr. Brown and staff described the CADDIE dispatch/level-loading tool, which operates 24/7 to match ambulance demand with emergency-department capacity and reported improvement in daily transport ratios and a compliance rate with the program above 80 percent. The agency has deployed 12 LUCAS mechanical chest-compression devices to reduce aerosol exposure during resuscitation and instituted new protocols and training for EMS responders.
Commissioners thanked EMS leadership and requested ongoing reporting of response-interval dashboards and cardiac-arrest outcomes.
