The San Joaquin County EMS Agency (SJCEMSA) is responsible for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the emergency medical services (EMS) system in San Joaquin County. SJCEMSA monitors and enforces more than 25 contracts and agreements for the provisions of advanced life support (ALS) emergency ambulance services, ALS and basic life support (BLS) non-emergency ambulance services, ALS and BLS first response services, base hospital medical direction, receiving hospital services, trauma services, specialty care centers, EMS training programs, and other services. This includes implementing and evaluating the County's trauma plan and other specialty care systems including oversight of San Joaquin General Hospital's performance as a designated level II trauma center and the St. Joseph's Medical Center and Dameron Hospital as STEMI (cardiac) centers.

In addition to contract monitoring and enforcement, SJCEMSA serves as the lead for all Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) activities throughout the EMS system including the approval of dispatch, provider and hospital CQI programs; leading peer-to-peer CQI activities; managing individual and provider performance improvement plans; and investigating and tracking sentinel events, unusual occurrences, citizen complaints, and EMS personnel formal investigations. SJCEMSA maintains an on-call EMS Duty Officer, 24-hours a day/seven days a week to respond to mutual aid requests, coordinate disaster medical operations, and to assist hospitals and providers in managing the EMS system.

SJCEMSA, in cooperation with Public Health Services, serves as the lead agency for medical disaster response with the EMS Administrator serving as the County's Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator. SJCEMSA oversees the Hospital Preparedness Program grant which provides funds for disaster planning in targeted areas including: healthcare system preparedness and recovery, emergency operation coordination, information sharing, medical surge and medical volunteer management.