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SFFD EMS report: cardiac-arrest metric change, Suboxone starts rise and praise for non-police response pilots
Summary
Deputy Chief Sandra Tong briefed the commission on July EMS data, including a methodological change that excluded traumatic arrests from cardiac-arrest survival rates (121 resuscitation attempts; 31 ROSC), an increase in Suboxone starts from 3 to 9, and positive NYU findings on non-police street teams (SCRT/SORT).
Deputy Chief Sandra Tong and EMS staff reported to the Fire Commission on Aug. 14 that the department adjusted how it calculates cardiac-arrest survival to exclude traumatic arrests (for example, shootings or falls), focusing the metric on medical arrests. Tong reported that in July the department attempted resuscitation in 121 cases and achieved return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in 31 of them.
Tong also summarized EMS operational patterns: call volume was slightly down overall in July but included several days with more than 400 emergency calls; the department provided two ambulances for Fourth of July events and transported seven of nine patients seen at that event. The EMS division emphasized continued policy review in coordination with the San Francisco Emergency Medical Services Agency and said a working group of department members now reviews proposed protocol changes to tighten language and implementation.
Assistant Deputy Chief Simon Payne highlighted community paramedicine partnerships and the department’s engagement with non-police response models. Payne noted continuation of the HEART (Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team) speaker series and cited a New York University School of Law study that documented nearly 13,000 SCRT responses in a one-year period and more than 3,000 SORT calls, with many patients accepting harm-reduction services. The division also reported increasing Suboxone starts in the field, from three to nine in the reporting period.
Commissioners questioned whether the drop in documented department Narcan administrations reflected more bystander use or a true decline. Tong said the reported Narcan figure counts only department-administered doses and that some bystander administration may not be in department statistics. Commissioners noted the Medical Examiner’s preliminary accidental-death release due later the same day.
The report concluded with a pledge to continue cross-agency coordination on EMS protocols and to track outcomes for both cardiac arrests and overdose response.
