San Diego audit finds Fire-Rescue turnout times lag standards, raising concerns about emergency medical readiness

Audit highlights delays before units leave stations

A newly released City performance audit has found that San Diego Fire-Rescue crews are often taking substantially longer than widely used operational benchmarks to become “en route” after being dispatched to emergency medical calls. The audit focuses on the “turnout” portion of response time—the interval between a unit being notified and the moment it departs the station—separate from call-taking and travel time.

The review, presented to the City Council’s Audit Committee in March 2026, revisits a 2012 City audit of the department’s emergency medical dispatch process and evaluates whether earlier reforms, automation, and data collection have translated into measurable improvements. The re-review concludes that turnout performance remains a persistent weakness, with the department meeting its turnout-time standard only a small fraction of the time.

Benchmarks versus current performance

In fire and EMS operations, turnout time is commonly treated as a controllable segment of overall response time, influenced by station configuration, readiness practices, and how time stamps are captured in dispatch systems. Industry standards and standards-of-coverage models used by many departments typically target turnout times on the order of roughly 60 to 90 seconds, depending on call type and staffing model.

San Diego’s latest audit findings point to turnout times that are materially longer than these benchmarks. The audit also raises questions about the consistency and reliability of operational time stamps, including how “en route” is recorded, which can affect how performance is measured and how improvement efforts are evaluated.

What the audit identifies as drivers of slower turnout

• Measurement and data issues: Differences in how key moments are recorded—particularly the “en route” indicator—can distort turnout calculations, complicating comparisons across stations, shifts, and incident types.

• Process variation: Turnout can be affected by steps taken before departure, including verifying location details, donning protective gear, confirming staffing, and completing required checks.

• Operational context: High call volume, competing demands, and unit availability can influence how quickly crews are able to commit to a dispatch and leave quarters, even before travel time begins.

Turnout time is one component of total response time, but it is among the few segments most directly influenced by station procedures, readiness, and documentation practices.

Why turnout matters for medical emergencies

Emergency medical calls make up a large share of modern fire-rescue workloads, and the audit frames timely dispatch-to-departure performance as central to patient outcomes and public expectations. While travel time is shaped by geography and traffic, turnout time is tied to station-level readiness and departmental policy—making it a key area for performance management.

Next steps and accountability

The audit’s re-review structure is intended to connect earlier recommendations to current performance and determine whether the City is realizing operational gains promised by automation and expanded data collection. The report’s findings set the stage for further Council oversight on how Fire-Rescue measures turnout, standardizes time-stamp practices, and implements operational changes aimed at reducing time-to-departure across the system.