Overdose-Related 911 Responses by Emergency Medical Services

<strong>A. SUMMARY</strong> 
This dataset comes from the San Francisco Emergency Medical Services Agency and includes all opioid overdose-related 911 calls responded to by emergency medical services (ambulances). The purpose of this dataset is to show how many opioid overdose-related 911 calls the San Francisco Fire Department and other ambulance companies respond to each week. This dataset is based on ambulance patient care records and not 911 calls for service data. 

<strong>B. HOW THE DATASET IS CREATED</strong> 
The San Francisco Fire Department and other ambulance companies send electronic patient care reports to the California Emergency Medical Services Agency for all 911 calls they respond to. The San Francisco Emergency Medical Services Agency (SF EMSA) has access to the state database that includes all reports for 911 calls in San Francisco County. In order to identify overdose-related calls that resulted in an emergency medical service (or ambulance) response, SF EMSA filters the patient care reports based on set criteria used in other jurisdictions called <u><a href="https://health.ri.gov/publications/guidelines/ESOOSCaseDefinitionForEMS.pdf">The Rhode Island Criteria</a></u>. These criteria filter calls to only include those calls where EMS documented that an opioid overdose was involved and/or naloxone (Narcan) was administered. Calls that do not involve an opioid overdose are filtered out of the dataset. Calls that result in a patient death on scene are also filtered out of the dataset. 

This dataset is created by copying the total number of calls each week when the state makes this data available. 
 
<strong>C. UPDATE PROCESS</strong> 
Data is generally available with a 24-hour lag on a weekly frequency but the exact lag and update frequency is based on when the State makes this data available.  

<strong>D. HOW TO USE THIS DATASET</strong> 
This dataset includes the total number of calls a week. The week starts on a Sunday and ends on the following Saturday. 

This dataset will not match the <u><a href="https://data.sfgov.org/Public-Safety/Fire-Department-Calls-for-Service/nuek-vuh3">Fire Department Calls for Service</a></u> dataset, as this dataset has been filtered to include only opioid overdose-related 911 calls based on electronic patient care report data. Additionally, the Fire Department Calls for Service data are primarily based on 911 call data (i.e. calls triaged and recorded by San Francisco’s 911 call center) and not the finalized electronic patient care reports recorded by Fire Department paramedics. 

<strong>E. RELATED DATASETS</strong> 
<u><a href="https://data.sfgov.org/d/nuek-vuh3">Fire Department Calls for Service</a></u> 
 <u><a href="https://data.sfgov.org/d/ubf6-e57x">San Francisco Department of Public Health Substance Use Services</a></u> 
<u><a href="https://data.sfgov.org/d/k4g8-b3sf">Unintentional Overdose Death Rates by Race/Ethnicity</a></u> 
<u><a href="https://data.sfgov.org/d/jxrr-bmra">Preliminary Unintentional Drug Overdose Deaths</a></u>

<strong>F. CHANGE LOG</strong> 
<UL><LI>1/17/2024 - updated date/time fields from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to Pacific Time (PT) which caused a slight change in historic case counts by week.