Highland Rescue Team Ambulance District

04/13/2026

04/07/2026

Backcountry rescue season is here and Highland Rescue Team is more prepared than ever thanks to a generous donation of 3 Mayhem 30L bags from Mountainsmith! These new bags are a major upgrade to our backcountry capabilities, allowing us to easily carry oxygen on all callouts and more comfortably bring essentials for providers and patients to remain safe on multi-hour extrications.

03/26/2026

Highland Rescue Team volunteers have been serving the community since the 1960s but what was Highland Rescue like in the 90s?

03/11/2026

Highland Rescue members weren’t always ready to provide vital emergency medical care, but they are now after a few decades and extensive training!

03/08/2026

At 5:44pm during Friday's storm, Highland Rescue Team and Foothills Fire & Rescue responded to a multi-vehicle collision in I-70 just past MP 254 involving a semi and multiple passenger vehicles. On arrival, crews found a scene necessitating highway closure and multiple patients requiring evaluation. Four patients were transported with non-life threatening injuries with help from our agency partners at Stadium Medical and Evergreen Fire/Rescue.

Even with infrequent snow this season, remember to and follow traction laws!

02/14/2026

Happy Valentine's Day!

02/05/2026

And just like that, Highland Rescue has given our first unit of whole blood! On Sunday, February 1, 2026 Highland Rescue Medic 287 was dispatched to assist a private ambulance company with lifting a patient. Upon arrival, the crew found the patient with profound hypotension and altered mental status, indicating hemorrhagic shock.

Immediately recognizing the need for lifesaving intervention, and recalling Highland Rescue’s new protocols for whole blood administration, Paramedics Rivkin and Acosta and Probationary EMT Hahn assumed care and initiated a field transfusion of one unit of Low Titer O+ Whole Blood. The patient's mentation and blood pressure improved with the transfusion and she was transported, with help from Genesee Fire Rescue, in critical but improving condition.

Highland Rescue Team commends Paramedics Rivkin and Acosta and Probationary EMT Hahn on recognizing the need for this new lifesaving intervention we have at our disposal and acting quickly to apply it!

02/03/2026

02/01/2026

A little over a month ago, on a quiet Christmas Eve, Highland Rescue Team launched our prehospital whole blood program! This new program, made possible by collaboration with Common Spirit Health Prehospital Services, Medical Director Dr. Scott Branney, and the Colorado Whole Blood Coalition, enables Highland Rescue paramedics to transfuse blood to treat patients in traumatic or medical shock. This new capability will increase safety and the standard of emergency medical care in Genesee, Idledale, Lookout Mountain, and along I-70.

Medical Director, Dr. Scott Branney, said of the launch, “This places Highland Rescue Team at the forefront of the most important advancements in prehospital emergency care ever, following substantial evidence that prehospital blood administration is a safe, effective, and critical intervention for patients with life-threatening bleeds.”

With the launch of this program, Highland Rescue Team becomes the second agency in the Denver Metro area and one of the only primarily-volunteer EMS agencies in the United States to transfuse prehospital whole blood.

For more information about Highland Rescue Team’s program, please contact [email protected]. For facts about whole blood programs in Colorado, visit the Colorado Whole Blood Coalition’s website.

12/07/2025

Congratulations to EMT Samuel Lynch for winning the prestigious President's Award from ! Sam is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Nursing while simultaneously volunteering as an EMT at Highland Rescue, conducting immunology research, and assistant teaching.

Sam's work and achievements represents the dedication that Highland Rescue volunteers have to their communities and improving health care!

📸 Alyson McClaran for MSU Denver RED

11/17/2025

Every six seconds a traffic incident responder is working roadside to keep all road users safe. Highland Rescue Team frequently responds alongside many partners to major incidents on I-70, Highway 40, and other dangerous roads.

This Crash Responder Safety Week, and every week, we urge you to know, share, and follow Colorado’s Slow Down Move Over law. Safety Starts With You – Slow Down and Move Over when approaching traffic incident responders on the road.