Fire Department Emergency Medical Services
Annual Report
Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee
March 20, 2025
Item (d)1.
Presented by:
Robert Sapien, Jr., Fire Chief, Fire Department
Steve Boughey, Deputy Fire Chief, Bureau of EMS & Training Thursday, March 20, 2025
Fire Department ALS & Ambulance Transport Services
2 Rescue Medics
• 3 Rescue Medics in service 24/7
• 8 Available in Fleet
• 2-Responders/ALS
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Engine, Truck, US&R, ARFF
• 34 Fire Stations
• 33 Engines, 9 Trucks, 1 ARFF, 1 US&R
• 4-Responders/ALS
First Responder EMS Protocol for ALS Services
3 9-1-1 request is
received for
Emergency
Medical Services
Fire & Ambulance
Dispatched for
Advance Life
Support Services /
Dispatcher Prearrival Instructions
Initiated
Firefighter/
Paramedic arrives
and provides
treatment
Firefighter/Paramedic
retains patient care
for exigent transport
to Emergency
Department
Transfers care to
Ambulance for
transport to
Emergency
Department
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Incident Type Distribution
4 68,410, 62%
12,241, 11%
6,079, 6%
1,264, 1%
11,206, 10%
6,493, 6%
4,562, 4%
Medical Only Other SJFD Calls (Unclassified)
No incident, wrong location, cancelled en route False Alarm / False Call Good Intent or Service Rescue, Haz-Mat, USAR & Non-Fire Hazards Fires
• Fire-based first responder EMS
is an essential component to
prehospital care
• 110,255 unique calls for service
• 68,410 (or 62%) Medical
Only Emergencies
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Major Observations on Patient Primary Impressions
5 Thursday, March 20, 2025
30,447
74%
10,541
26%
All Other Impressions Traumatic Injury
• 8% increase in Traumatic Injury and
General Weakness
• Traumatic Injuries make up approx. 26%
of total patient primary impressions
• Downward trends seen in FY 2023-2024:
• Alcohol Intoxication/Overdose (-32%)
• Altered Levels of Consciousness (-7%)
• Chest Pain (-8%)
Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Department BLS Escorts & ALS
Transports
6 98
72 72
47 106
74 108
122
105 107
120
82 154
112
175 205
100 135 105
85 120 119 107
60 0
50 100
150
200
250
300
July 23 Aug 23 Sept 23 Oct 23 Nov 23 Dec 23 Jan 24 Feb 24 Mar 24 Apr 24 May 24 Jun 24 Department - Assisted Transports
BLS Ambulance Escorts Rescue Medic Transports
Thursday, March 20, 2025
• Greater frequency in
Department-assisted transports
due to County’s contracted
ambulance unavailability
• 1,447 Rescue Medic Transports
• 1,113 BLS Ambulance Escorts
• 66% increase in SDO 10/11
Activation Minutes
Public Access Defibrillators (PAD Program)
7 • International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation
(ILCOR):
Most adults who can be saved from cardiac arrest are in ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia.
Electrical defibrillation provides the single most important therapy for the treatment of these patients. To achieve the earliest possible defibrillation, the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) endorses the concept that in many settings nonmedical individuals should be allowed and encouraged to use defibrillators.
• 9 AEDs were utilized in FY 2023-2024 with 100%
success rate for return to spontaneous circulation
• 236 AEDs located at 96 locations throughout the City
Thursday, March 20, 2025
PulsePoint App
8 • Early intervention for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is critical:
A study published in the Journal of the American
Heart Association in 2018 concluded that each
1‐minute increase in EMS response time was
associated with a 10.7% (95% confidence
interval, 10.0%–11.4%) decrease in favorable
neurological outcome for out-of-hospital cardiac
arrest victims1.
• PulsePoint will alert skilled individuals, including offduty health care professionals who have the PulsePoint App when SJFD receives 9-1-1 calls for
cardiac arrest.
1Goto Y, Funada A, Goto Y. Relationship between emergency medical services response time and bystander intervention in patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018;7:e007568.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Opioid Awareness Campaign
9 Thursday, March 20, 2025
• Opioid Settlement Funds utilized
to resource efforts in increasing
public awareness of the dangers
of opioid abuse
• Opioid Awareness Education &
Outreach
• Youth/Schools
• At Risk Communities
• Community Emergency
Response Teams (CERT)
Continuous Public Information / Education
10 Thursday, March 20, 2025
11 Fire Department Emergency Medical Services Annual Report Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee
March 20, 2025
Item (d)1.
Questions?
Robert Sapien, Jr., Fire Chief
Fire Department
Steve Boughey, Deputy Chief
Bureau EMS and Training
Thursday, March 20, 2025