Gunnison Valley Hospital Emergency Medical Services was presented Colorado's "Ambulance Service of the Year" award from the Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at the annual Colorado Emergency Medical Services Awards Gala, in Littleton, Colorado this past May.

Gunnison Valley Hospital EMS is led by long time EMS veteran EMT-Paramedic Bryan Hess, "We do a lot more than most rural agencies offer, mainly due to the flexibility of our schedule, the quality of our volunteers and building good working relationships with the other emergency services agencies we tend to co-respond with" says Hess.

To meet their local needs, Gunnison Valley Hospital’s EMS equips their ambulances a little bit differently. Each unit has a special response bag, which includes, rock helmets, helmet lights, seat harnesses, rope gloves and various accompanying hardware. They also have life jackets for the crews and swiftwater rescue throw bags. Additionally, all four ambulances, 4 wheel drive type 1 units, are equipped with a stokes basket mounted on the roof.

The service maintains a number of what is known as specialized "Go bags," used for various specific operational needs. Their largest is the hazardous materials bag, which includes all of the protective equipment and material data books for the crew supporting a Haz Mat incident. Due to the remoteness of some of their calls the GVH EMS labels one type of specialty response bag for horse packs. These are loaded with everything required for an extended backcountry response. A horse pack was selected for transportation on a pack animal or an ATV. When asked about the backcountry, Hess stated, "We respond into the back country six or seven times a year with the Western State Mountain Rescue Team. They get us to the patient as safely and as quickly as possible. We take care of the health and wellbeing of the patient, and depending on the needs of the call, WSC handle the patient movement and extrication. It is not all that unusual on one of these calls to have to relay in or air drop by helicopter additional medical supplies or medications."

Gunnison EMS prides itself on providing current state-of-the-art care for the patients and communities they serve. They do this in part by staying on top of new technology and trends: 12 lead EKG, RAD 57 CO/Pulse Ox monitoring, and CPAP etc. They have also participated in numerous field-testing and evaluation of EMS equipment due to the environmental extremes that part of their day to day operations. Currently they are conducting a field trial on a device known as a Flex warmer, a device for warming IV fluids in the field. According to Gunnison EMS Director Bryan Hess, "We do all this because out here, where we are a 4 hour drive from our nearest Level 2 Trauma Center, this is where the patient needs this high level of care the most."

Gunnison EMS places a high value on high quality training, both to the area rescue response community and the public. Gunnison EMS teaches First Responder, EMT-Basic and EMT-Intermediate at the hospital and in conjunction with the Western State College. They also provide ongoing continuing education for all levels of EMS professionals and teaches Pediatric Emergency Prehospital Preparedness and International Trauma Life Support.

Co-response includes having a good working relationship with the National Park Service. This is done through the joint response to numerous calls in the NPS areas of the county, usually over the very busy tourist season in the summer and fall, but also through numerous cross and joint training sessions. Other groups Gunnison
EMS responds with include area law enforcement agencies, area fire departments including the Crested Butte Fire Department, which also provides EMS coverage for an area roughly 100 square miles in and around the City of Crested Butte, and the Gunnison County operations level Hazardous Materials Team.

EMS is a critical component of our nation's and communities' safety net, proudly serving alongside rescue, fire and law enforcement professionals. The Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado is a professional association of paramedic-, intermediate- and basic- level emergency medical technicians and EMS first responders, physicians and nurses who treat victims of traumatic injury and medical emergencies; and EMS agencies, administrators, dispatchers, researchers and educators. EMSAC's nearly 3,000 members work or volunteer for ground and air ambulance services, fire departments, hospitals and clinics, search and rescue teams, ski patrols, military medical or rescue units and medical training institutions.

Dr. Tarr Receives Healthcare Excellence Award

Recently, John S. Tarr, M.D. was presented the Colorado Rural Healthcare Excellence Award. Congratulating Dr. Tarr is Gunnison Valley Health System Board of Director's Chair, Robert Brickman and GVHS CEO Randy Phelps. This prestigious award is given annually to honor someone who has made a notable contribution to health, healthcare, or healthcare delivery system in rural Colorado.

Gunnison Valley Hospital 970-641-1456
GVH Mountain Home Health 970-641-7279
GVH Physical Therapy 970-641-7248
GVH Crested Butte Physical Therapy 970-349-5684

Willows Assisted Living 970-641-3031
Gunnison Health Care Center 970-641-0704
Hospice and Pallative Care of the Gunnison Valley 970-641-4254