San Francisco Not Meeting EMS Goals

San Francisco’s (Calif.) public safety comm center is the “weakest link” in the city’s emergency medical response system, leading to 27% of Priority 1 incidents being delayed beyond the city’s 6-1/2 minute response goal. The first part of a series in the San Francisco Chronicle says that among the problems is a staffing shortage–just 150 of the authorized 186 dispatcher positions are filled, a 19% vacancy rate that includes trainees. Because of all the comm center’s issues, the story said the comm center meets its two-minute dispatch goal just 57% of the time. Read part one of the series here, and also check the maps, graphs and other stories as they’re posted later this week.