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Committee forwards ordinance to allow designated SFFD paramedics to place 5150 holds to full Board
Summary
The committee recommended to the full Board an ordinance authorizing designated San Francisco Fire Department paramedics and rescue captains to initiate involuntary psychiatric holds (Welfare & Institutions Code §5150), citing an effort to shift many hold initiations from police to trained medical responders; the committee approved forwarding the ordinance with a 3-0 vote.
The San Francisco Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on July 8 voted to forward to the full Board of Supervisors a bill authorizing designated, certified paramedics and field rescue captains from the San Francisco Fire Department to initiate temporary involuntary psychiatric holds commonly known as 5150s under state law.
Sponsor Supervisor Safaie framed the ordinance as part of a broader shift away from policing responses to behavioral‑health crises toward public‑health trained responders. “Allowing the fire department paramedics and EMTs to have this ability helps to introduce an additional tool in the toolkit of the street crisis, the wellness, the paramedics that are out there,” the sponsor told the committee.
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