Captain Emergency Medical Services Fire Department (H033)

The H033 EMS Captain is a management position in the San Francisco Fire Department Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division. Under general direction of the EMS Section Chief of Operations or other higher-ranking officers in the Department the H033 EMS Captain directs and supervises the activities of EMTs Paramedics Firefighter Paramedic staff and other auxiliary personnel in an assigned area. An EMS Captain may be assigned to Field Operations Emergency Communications Station 49 Division of Training Airport Quality Assurance Administration or other positions assigned. Based on assignment an EMS Captains duties may include but are not limited to: manages and assesses clinical performance of paramedic and EMT staff; identifies evaluates and reduces opportunities of injury to the public or department members; manages system operations; provides education and training to department members; counsels staff engaged in EMS activities; evaluates and improves quality assurance; investigates critical incidents and unusual occurrences; coordinates activities with fire officers and chiefs at scenes of medical or fire emergencies and disasters; participates in special projects as assigned. The H033 EMS Captain may also be required to perform related duties as required.

Qualifications :

Experience:

1. Successful completion of probationary period in class H003 Level 2 Paramedic or class H003 Level 3 Firefighter Paramedic.
2. Five (5) years of experience as a sworn permanent appointee in the San Francisco Fire Department including three (3) years of experience as a paramedic in the San Francisco Fire Department.

License and Certification:

1. Possession and maintenance of a valid Paramedic license issued by the State of California EMS Authority.
2. Current paramedic accreditation from the San Francisco EMS Agency.
3. Possession and maintenance of a valid California Driver license.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications by final filling date unless otherwise noted.

Verification: 

Candidates who are under consideration for appointment will be contacted by the Fire Department for verification of knowledge and skills competence. Candidates who do not meet the standards set by the San Francisco Fire Department EMS Medical Director will be placed under waiver on the eligible list and will not be available for appointment until such time as they are able to meet those standards.

Note: Falsifying ones education training or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

Selection Procedures: 

The selection process will consist of the following components: Multiple-choice Written Exam and Performance Exam. Weights for each exercise will be announced via preparation guide which will be issued approximately 30 days prior to the administration of the respective test components.

Qualified applicants will be notified by email of the exact dates times and locations of the exercises. Both components are tentatively scheduled for the week of May 4-8 2026.

A passing score will be established with respect to the final scores. Only those candidates who attain a final score at or above the pass point will have their names included on the eligible list.  Test scores will be standardized.

Test Preparation Guides:

A description of the test components including component weights will be included in the Preparation Guides. The Preparation Guides will also list the job-related task clusters from which Test tasks will be simulated. They will also identify knowledge and abilities that may be evaluated by each test component. The Preparation Guides will be available approximately 30 days prior to the administration of the respective test components. Qualified applicants will be notified via email when the Preparation Guides become available.

Certification:

In accordance with Civil Service Rule 313.3.4 the certification rule to be used for the eligible list will be Statistically Valid Grouping (Sliding Band).

Eligible List:

The eligible list resulting from this test is subject to change after adoption (e.g. as a result of appeals) as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list will be 24 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

Secondary Criteria:

In accordance with Civil Service Rule 313.2.1 the Chief of Department will consider the following secondary criteria when making appointments from the eligible list:

• Fire Department experience (i.e. length and variety)
• Education and training
• Completion of State Fire Marshal courses or equivalent
• Disciplinary record

Secondary criteria items will be reviewed in totality and will not be weighted. Candidates will be asked to complete a Secondary Criteria form at a later date. Candidates will be notified via a Fire Department General Order when to submit the Secondary Criteria form.

Before appointment selected eligible candidates must pass a thorough physical exam by the Department Physician. This exam includes a urine test to screen for the presence of drugs or alcohol. Appointees must also pass an additional physical exam prior to the completion of their probationary periods.

In compliance with the Department of Transportation Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 employing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regulations drug and alcohol testing for employees in safety-sensitive positions are required. Some H033 EMS Captain positions qualify as safety-sensitive as defined by the FMCSA and FTA regulations. Applicants selected for safety-sensitive positions will be required to pass a Pre-Employment drug test prior to appointment and shall be subject to Random Post-Accident Reasonable Suspicion Return-To-Duty and Follow-Up testing during employment. Prior to appointment to an FMCSA position each applicant who has participated in a DOT drug and alcohol testing program within the immediately preceding two years will be required to sign a consent form authorizing the City to contact his/her prior employers concerning his/her drug and alcohol test history.

Additional Information :

Additional Information

Reference Materials:

Candidates should be familiar with all current Fire Department General Orders and Training Bulletins as well as current Fire Department manuals and other references listed below. Test material may be drawn from the materials listed below. It may also be based on the collective fire service experience of subject matter experts.

• Accident Policy June 2025
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support Provider Manual

• Basic Life Support Health Care Provider Manual

• Basic Trauma Life Support for Advanced Providers

• Breathing Apparatus Manual

• California Firefighter Procedural Bill of Rights

• Communications Manual

• Department General Orders

• Department of Transportation Emergency Response Guidebook

• Disaster Operations Manual

• Emergency Care in the Streets AAOS Jones & Bartlett Learning 2018

• EMSA San Francisco County Policy Manual

• EMSA San Francisco County Treatment Protocols

• EMT3 Go Kit Vector Solutions training
• Department Training Bulletins

• General Medical; Conway E. Mackman N. et al. Understanding COVID-19-Associated Coagulopathy
  Nat Rev Immunol 22 2022) Material Operating Guide

• High Rise Manual

• Incident Command System Manual

• Injury & Illness Prevention Program Manual

• Managing Employee Performance Manual and Procedures Guidebook

• Maps and Thomas Guides to City of San Francisco

• Multi-Casualty Incident (MCI) Management Policy SF EMSA Policy 8000

• Operations of Active Attacker Incidents (Feb 2025)

• Pediatric Advanced Life Support Provider Manual

• Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) 9th or 10th edition

• Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support 7th edition

• Rapid Interpretation of EKGs 6th Edition Dale Dubin Cover Publishing Company

• Rules and Regulations

• SFFD CD1 CD2 CD3 & CD4 memos

• SFFD Drug/Alcohol Testing & Reasonable Suspicion Policy.

• SFFD EMS Memos

• SFFD EMS Standard Operating Procedures Manual

• SFFD Fire Emergency Response (FRES) patterns / Communications Manual

• SFFD Vector Solutions Training

• Tactical Emergency Medical Services Standard Operating Guidelines Policy (Jan 2025)

• TB 25-01 Accident Prevention 2025
• Transit Manual

• Vehicle Operations Manual

SFFD manuals are available for purchase at DOT and found on SFFD resources for example Fire Bulletin. It is an applicants responsibility to update the publications listed as suggested reading materials by acquiring any Department- authorized revisions supplements and/or replacements issued prior to January 1 2026. The other references are available online for free or at a nominal cost.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:  

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement including requirements time periods and other particulars except when superseded by federal state or local laws rules or regulations.  Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at  terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 310.3. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources 1 S Van Ness Avenue 4th Floor San Francisco CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 7th business day following the issuance date of this announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements applications and exam policies including applicant appeal rights can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at  About the Hiring Process

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit  begin the application process.

• Select the Im Interested button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up to date. Also applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses: and @.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process please contact the exam analyst at 

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex race age religion color national origin ancestry physical disability mental disability medical condition (associated with cancer a history of cancer or genetic characteristics) HIV/AIDS status genetic information marital status sexual orientation gender gender identity gender expression military and veteran status or other protected category under the law.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time