Street Response Community Workgroup
The Street Response Community Workgroup brings City departments and the community together. Participants will communicate and collaborate to provide services and resources. The workgroup will also provide feedback on the street response.
About our Street Response Teams
As part of the Healthy Streets Operations Center, the Department of Emergency Management partners with other departments and the community to plan and coordinate across teams.
People who are worried about someone in crisis should call 9-1-1 and, when appropriate, a street response team will be deployed.
Currently, there are four street response teams:
- EMS-6
- Street Crisis Response Team
- Street Overdose Response Team
- Street Wellness Response Team
EMS-6
This is the first team that brought together community paramedics with clinicians. The EMS-6 team works with people who use emergency services the most. Many are experiencing homelessness and face substance use and/or mental health disorders. EMS monitors 911 calls, and gets calls from caseworkers to respond to people who need help. They provide urgent care and transport people to the hospital or to shelter.
Street Crisis Response Team (SCRT)
SCRT works to provide the most appropriate clinical interventions and care coordination for people who are experiencing behavioral health crises in public spaces, with the goal of reducing law enforcement encounters and unnecessary emergency room use. Each team includes one community paramedic, one behavioral health clinician, and one behavioral health peer specialist. Some 911 calls regarding people experiencing behavioral health crises will be routed to the Street Crisis Response Team.
Status: Launched November 2020
Response: 911 calls coded as "800-B" (a behavioral health crisis) and "on views" (meaning teams can proactively stop if they see something)
Coverage: 6 active teams, 24/7 coverage
Street Overdose Response Team (SORT)
SORT connects with people in the critical moments after they recently experienced an overdose. They offer services including opioid-blocking medicines, rescue kits, educational materials, and support getting into substance use treatment and shelter. Teams include a street medicine specialist from DPH and a community paramedic from the SFFD and will eventually expand to include Peer Specialists and Behavioral Health Clinicians from community-based organizations.
In the near future, community paramedics will be initiating medication-assisted treatments, such as buprenorphine, in the field to better assist individuals with substance use disorders.
Status: Launched August 2021
Response: 911 calls about an overdose; follow-ups in the days after the initial response
Coverage: Once fully operational, expected to provide up to 24-hour coverage depending on community need
Street Wellness Response Team (SWRT)
SWRT consists of community paramedics from the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) and Homeless Outreach Team members from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH). They focus on well-being checks and situations that require immediate attention, but do not meet the threshold of an acute behavioral health crisis. This includes situations such as someone with obvious wounds, people who are lying down or sleeping, or someone inappropriately clothed for the weather.
Status: First team launched January 2022.
Response: "Well Being" calls (currently referred to as "910" calls) and "on views" (meaning teams can proactively stop if they see something).
Coverage: Once fully operational, expected to provide up to 24-hour coverage depending on community need