SAN FRANCISCO -- Police officers, firefighters and paramedics gathered in San Francisco Monday to call on building owners and security companies to raise wages, provide adequate health benefits and better training for security officers stationed throughout the Bay Area.

The call to better prepare security officers, which comes on the eve of the six-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is necessary because San Francisco isn't prepared to provide quality emergency response, firefighters and paramedics say.

"It's really not a matter of if, it's a matter of when we will be hit by another terrorist attack," said Gary Delagnes, San Francisco Police Officers Association president, at a midday news conference today.

Private security officers are the first responders to medical emergencies, natural disasters and terrorist threats at high-rise commercial office buildings, as well as ports, government buildings, public transportation, universities and banks.

"As long as real estate corporations place profits over public security all of our safety is in jeopardy," said Matt Pope, a Service Employees International Union Local 24/7 member.

The union represents some 4,000 security officers in the counties of San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa, spokeswoman Gina Bowers said.

The private security industry has a turnover rate of 100 percent to 300 percent, driven by low wages, lack of affordable health care and inadequate training, according to union members.

"Right now private security is a low-paying job. It's kind of a dead-end job really," Bowers said.

Security guards earn about $23,500 annually. In comparison, janitors with at least a couple years of experience can earn $5 more hourly than guards who have similar experience, and they don't have the same turnover, Bowers said.

Corporations that own the buildings where the officers work need to take responsibility so people stay in these jobs and get the necessary training, Bowers said.

Between state-mandated training, training that security companies provide to employees and training that individual buildings provide, tenants can feel quite confident that they are in safe environments, said Marc Intermaggio, executive vice president of BOMA San Francisco, which represents building owners and managers associations.

"Our members are committed to providing a secure and safe environment for all of their tenants, Intermaggio said today.

Besides training issues and being paid low wages, security officers don't have the same perks - like paid sick days and vacations and pensions - that window washers, janitors and parking attendants receive, said Matt Roberts, a local security officer.

"This is a crisis situation," he said.

Additionally, although health benefits are provided, they simply aren't good enough, according to Pope.

"We have members deciding whether to pay rent or pay for benefits," he said.

Training also isn't adequate, union members say.

More than 90 percent of security officers report they haven't received adequate training on interacting with emergency response teams, according to the union.

State law mandates that guards get 40 hours of training within six months and then follow-up training, Pope said.

But that doesn't happen, he said.

The often generic and superficial training needs to be relevant, specific and hands-on, Pope said. They need to be taught how to do things like write reports, and when paramedics respond to emergencies, they need officers who can show them where to go.

"It is demoralizing for our members to feel like they haven't been trained to do their jobs," Pope said.

Due to high turnover rate, officers often aren't familiar with their work places and are unable to direct emergency personnel, said Jeany Duncan, a San Francisco Fire Department paramedic.

"It's unpardonable that they are not trained," Duncan said.

For more than two months, Local 24/7 has been working without a contract. The union plans to vote Saturday about whether to authorize negotiators to strike against the private security industry.

"The city's real estate giants have an historic opportunity right now during contract negotiations to raise standards for private security officers and in doing so, improve public safety," Pope said.