By Jeffrey Bear
Estes Park Trail-Gazette
ESTES PARK, Colo. — The emergency medical services team at UCHealth Estes Valley Medical Center is preparing for some of Colorado’s most challenging emergencies by ensuring that highly trained critical care paramedics are available around the clock to respond to patients in the remote mountains surrounding Estes Park, according to a news release from the hospital.
The EMS team serves an area of nearly 150 square miles that includes Rocky Mountain National Park, Roosevelt National Forest, rural Larimer County, and mountain communities such as Estes Park, Allenspark, Glen Haven, Elk Meadows and Pinewood Springs. During the busy summer tourism season, the region welcomes more than 4 million visitors, creating unique challenges for emergency responders.
| NEW RESOURCE: What Paramedics Want in 2026
Because patients are sometimes far away from the nearest emergency department, the hospital has invested heavily in advanced training for its EMS personnel, the release states.
“We have so many critical care paramedics because we want one on every shift,” said Bo Cheatham, EMS critical care paramedic supervisor at Estes Valley Medical Center. “Because of our remote location, we are an island, and patients can be 45 minutes or more away from the nearest emergency department. We need to be self-sufficient.”
Of the department’s 40 EMS providers, 16 are certified critical care paramedics, an advanced credential that allows them to provide higher levels of treatment in the field while transporting critically ill or injured patients. According to Cheatham, those 16 providers represent about 10% of all EMTs in Colorado who hold the endorsement.
Three members of the team also bring a combined 72 years of flight paramedic experience, giving the department additional expertise when patients require advanced care before they can reach a hospital.
The value of that training was demonstrated recently, hospital officials said, when EMS crews responded to a patient who collapsed on a trail leading to an overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park. The patient was approximately 10 miles from Estes Valley Medical Center and nearly 4,000 feet higher in elevation than Estes Park.
EVMC paramedics worked alongside Rocky Mountain National Park emergency medics and helicopter flight paramedics to stabilize the patient. Crews administered intravenous fluids, inserted a breathing tube, controlled bleeding from a head injury and provided other advanced treatments, the release states. Within an hour of the EMS team’s arrival, the patient was aboard a helicopter and headed to an operating room.
“We average 200 calls in the national park every year plus calls from the national forest service and local mountain communities,” Cheatham said. “Although park EMTs and other community fire personnel respond, we help with transport, higher-level care and backup support.”
The geography of the Estes Valley often requires EMS crews to operate independently for extended periods, the release states. Winter storms can close roads and prevent helicopters from flying, while summer rescues frequently occur on remote trails or in wilderness areas far from hospitals.
To prepare for those conditions, EVMC ambulances carry specialized medical equipment, medications designed for prolonged patient care, and blood products that can be administered before reaching a hospital.
“Our EMS team can be 45 minutes or more away from the nearest (emergency department),” paramedic Anthony Ruptak said. “We are not five minutes from multiple EDs like in urban areas.”
Cheatham said maintaining a large number of critical care paramedics allows the department to deliver advanced treatment wherever emergencies occur, whether in downtown Estes Park, along mountain highways or deep inside Rocky Mountain National Park.
© 2026 Estes Park Trail-Gazette, Colo.
Visit www.eptrail.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.