About
Study
San José State University (SJSU) and the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) have been working together since 2021 to address challenges with using data to understand and improve equity in Emergency Medical Services and Community Paramedicine. We recognize that implementing and measuring equitable delivery of EMS programs starts with collecting the right data in the right way.
Building on our successful collaboration, we jointly hosted the first statewide conference on EMS Data Equity in January 2024, bringing together local EMS agencies, service providers, authorities, and experts in the field to gain an increased understanding of equitable delivery of EMS and pre-hospital care, learn from other EMS providers on approaches to equitable service delivery, and work together to identify shared data opportunities to support equitable and sustainable EMS programming.
The conference was also the launch of our year-long California EMS Data Equity Learning Community.
Funders
This work was funded by the CARESTAR Foundation and by the National Science Foundation
Civic Innovation Challenge.
Methodology
San José State University and the San Francisco Fire Department study uses an approach called Participatory Action Research. This approach values academic, experiential, and technical knowledge, and leverages these forms of expertise in a cyclic process of problem identification, research, intervention development and implementation, and evaluation to create meaningful change.
Meet the Team
Miranda Worthen
Dr. Miranda Worthen is a Professor in the Department of Public Health at San José State University in California, where she teaches classes in epidemiology, research methods, and global health. She also is a core faculty member of Human Rights Institute. Her research is multidisciplinary focusing on social justice and public health primarily using participatory research methods. She received her Bachelors from Harvard University, her MPhil in Development Studies from Oxford University and a PhD in epidemiology from University of California, Berkeley.
Soma de Bourbon
Dr. Soma de Bourbon is an Associate Professor in Sociology and part of the Ethnic Studies Collaborative at San José State University, where she teaches classes on family violence, Ethnic Studies, qualitative methodologies, and LGBTQ studies. Dr. de Bourbon also serves on the boards of several community organizations including the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley. Dr. de Bourbon conducts participatory action research with community partners on violence, trauma, safety, and community-based solutions.
Michael Mason
Michael Mason currently serves as the Section Chief of Administration in the San Francisco Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine Division.
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Activated during COVID in 2020, Section Chief Mason led Healthy Streets Operation Center field operations resulting in over 1,700 unhoused individuals being triaged and transported directly from the street to shelters, hotels, and shelter alternatives. The multi-agency model developed during this time has continued and been replicated across the nation as our communities continue to seek effective responses to the homelessness crisis.
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In 2021 he helped support the planning and launch of the Street Overdose Response Team (SORT), a collaborative effort with the Department of Public Health to actively reduce drug overdose mortality in vulnerable populations. The SORT has received international media attention and proven itself to be a pioneering model of care.
Section Chief Mason’s work has focused on cross-agency data integration and sharing, shelter and housing access for EMS patients, and data-driven program development and analysis.
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His program development experience in the Fire Department, particularly the Community Paramedic Division, has led him to pursue a Master of Public Administration at San Francisco State University.
April Sloan
Chief April Sloan brings 27 years of experience in EMS to her role as
San Francisco Fire Department's Chief of Community Paramedicine. In 2016 she was selected for SFFD's community paramedic program, focusing on high utilizers of EMS. In 2020 San Francisco launched a program as an alternative to law enforcement, the Street Crisis Response Team. Chief Sloan supervised the implementation and daily operations of SCRT. She continues to focus on coordinating care for vulnerable populations and supporting her member's hard work within the community.
Remle Crowe
Dr. Remle Crowe is an expert in EMS research and quality improvement. Prior to earning her PhD in epidemiology from The Ohio State University, she volunteered as an emergency medical technician with the Mexican Red Cross in Mexico City. During this time, she also worked as a Powertrain Quality Engineer for Ford Motor Company where she received Six Sigma Black Belt training. Now, Dr. Crowe blends her background in research and improvement science to improve community health and safety through the power of data as Director of Research at ESO in Austin, Texas.
Jamie Kennel
Dr. Jamie Kennel is a professor, paramedic, and Director of Health Equity Education at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University. Dr. Kennel is also the co-founder of Equity Analytics Group which provides consulting to EMS agencies on the structural organizational changes required to mitigate racial treatment disparities so that all patients receive high quality EMS care.
Ryan McClinton
Ryan McClinton is a Public Health Advocate, Community Organizer, Small Business Consultant and Community Workshop Facilitator. He develops and trains local leadership to bring meaningful change in their communities.
Ryan has successfully built and supported efforts that have led to major criminal justice reforms, advances in African American Mental Health Services, and focused on Black racial equity statewide. Ryan’s primary focus is creating the healthy and sustainable quality of life that African Americans and all communities have long deserved through deep collaboration and development of relationships.
DeAngelo Mack
DeAngelo Mack serves as the Senior Director of Equity and Training at the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention and is the Founder and CEO of Macknificent World. His work focuses on the intersection of community violence intervention, systemic inequities, and the lasting impact of generational trauma on communities of color. As a certified violence interventionist and former state policy director, Mr. Mack draws upon his expertise to inform, support, and empower both the communities most impacted by violence and the individuals with lived experience who work alongside them.
Mr. Mack formerly served as the Director of the First Response Transformation Campaign, a statewide initiative dedicated to supporting local leaders in the development and long-term implementation of alternative response programs. These programs are designed to more effectively address community needs while reducing reliance on traditional—and often more costly—police, fire, and emergency medical services.
Joseph Graterol
Dr. Joseph Graterol, MD is the Medical Director of the Community Paramedicine Division of the San Francisco Fire Department. He is also an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF and Attending Physician at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.
Celeste Calderon
Celeste Calderon, MPH is a recent Master of Public Health graduate in the Department of Public Health at San José State University. She currently serves as a Graduate Research Assistant centered around promoting equity in community paramedicine. Outside of the classroom, she also teaches nutrition, physical activity, and agricultural curriculum through CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE to advance the broader PSE change. Prior to joining her master’s program, she worked as a Quality Improvement Patient Centered Care Coordinator, closing out HEDIS and star gaps in care across the northern coast of California. Her interdisciplinary background fuels her commitment to building healthier, more resilient communities – one partnership, program, and policy at a time.
Tammy Cao
Tammy Cao, BS is a Public Health graduate with a concentration in Population Data Science and double minors in Business and Biological Sciences at San José State University. They are a Research Assistant who compiles information about data equity onto a digital format. They formerly interned at Stanford Medicine and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, where she conducted community outreach and data analysis. Her goal is to utilize storytelling to make information accessible to communities.