Measure Description
The response rate measure tracks the percentage of 911 emergency calls that should be answered by the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) within 15 seconds. Its performance target is 90%. The measure “Average daily volume of emergency calls” is included to provide additional context to the response rate.
Why these measures are important
These measures provide the public, elected officials, and city staff with a snapshot of the responsiveness of the Department of Emergency Management and San Francisco Police Department when a member of the public dials 911 in an emergency. Data that indicate lower emergency response times following 911 calls or lower emergency call volume help the Department of Emergency Management and SFPD to track the quality of emergency response to improve public safety in the city.
The first interactive response chart below presents the percent of calls answered within 15 seconds per month and contains a target line of 90%. The second interactive call volume chart presents average daily calls per month. Data is available for the previous standard of 90% of emergency calls answered within 10 seconds (“Ring Time”) by selecting the second option above the response chart.
The chart's legend is below:
- Top Chart Y-axis: Percent of calls answered within 15 seconds per month
- Bottom Chart Y-axis: Average number of daily calls per month
- X-Axis: Months within the calendar year
DEM 911 Call Response Rate
How performance is measured
Performance is measured from the time that an emergency call reaches the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) System to the time that an Emergency Management Dispatcher answers the call and asks the caller about the emergency. To arrive at the percentage result, DEM counts each emergency call taking less than or equal to 15 seconds to answer then divides that number by the total number of calls. Average daily 911 call volume is the count of 911 calls received in a month and divided by the number of days in that month.
The standard of Answer Time is 90% of all 9-1-1 calls arriving at PSAP shall be answered within 15 seconds.
Data
Please visit DataSF for the 911 call response scorecard data.
Additional Information
- Read about what to do when you call 911
- Learn more about call answering and dispatch on San Francisco's emergency medical response webpage.
City Performance Scorecards
This page is part of the City Performance Scorecards.
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