Emergency Medical Services
As of July 1, 2019, the Summit County Ambulance Service has merged with Summit Fire & EMS into a single agency.
The Summit Fire & EMS provides a variety of emergency medical services, including 9-1-1 response and critical-care inter-facility transports to all of Summit County, Colorado, including the towns of Dillon, Frisco, Montezuma and Silverthorne. Additionally, we respond to the three local ski resorts: Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain and Keystone.
Summit Fire & EMS is funded predominantly by property taxes, specific-ownership taxes and user fees and Summit County Safety First Fund, approved by local voters in 2014.
Our advanced life support (ALS) ambulances are strategically placed throughout Summit County and staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Ambulances are staffed by nationally registered paramedics, intermediates and emergency-medical technicians, stationed in Dillon, Frisco, Copper Mountain and Keystone.
Our 9-1-1 EMS response is coordinated by our firefighters, who typically respond to the location of emergencies in six minutes or less, depending on weather, traffic and location.
Patients usually are transported to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center or emergency clinics in Breckenridge and Keystone. In the event of serious injury, ambulance personnel coordinate with St. Anthony Hospital Flight for Life to airlift patients to the Denver-area hospitals.
Summit County, in partnership with the two local fire districts, contracted Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) to perform an independent third-party analysis of Summit County's EMS system in December 2017. ESCI reviewed all aspects of the community's delivery of emergency medical services, including operations, administration, staffing, revenues, costs, capital facilities, vehicles, equipment, service delivery, operational performance, interfacility transports and future demand projections.
The analysis and report development were conducted over a nine-month period to identify potential options for ambulance services in the community, currently provided by Summit County, Summit Fire & EMS and Red, White & Blue Fire Rescue.
View the ESCI presentation (pdf)View the ESCI full report (pdf)Summit Fire & EMS and Red, White & Blue Fire have been working together over the past several years to identify cost savings and opportunities to improve system efficiency, while maintaining or improving the level of patient care.
Learn more about our Emergency Services Authority efforts.
Mission
Summit Fire & EMS is a community-owned provider of prehospital emergency care and medical transportation utilizing the best people, practices and equipment possible within our integrated public safety and emergency health-care system.
Vision
Summit Fire & EMS will continue to show leadership in the provision of emergency medical care and transportation. We will meet or exceed regional, state and national benchmarks in prehospital care through strong employee involvement and a continual focus on our community. We will serve with a commitment to individual and organizational learning. We will continually evaluate and embrace changes that will benefit our customers while being a cooperative partner in the local emergency medical and trauma services system.
Values
Our core values include service, respect, education, accountability, honesty and integrity.
The employees of Summit Fire & EMS are committed to providing customer service that is greater than expected. We are devoted to community service. Such service will be provided in a professional manner, while keeping safety the utmost priority. Every job, task, and patient will be approached with a high degree of dedication.
Summit Fire & EMS employees are dedicated to treating everyone they contact with respect and kindness. We are especially committed to treat one another professionally and with respect and kindness. Every person who works here is respected as an individual with unique ideas and a life outside of work. Every employee is part of the team and committed to teamwork.
We are patient advocates committed to excellence in patient care. Therefore we are committed to the highest standards of training and continuing education. Every employee has the right to a sense of accomplishment and to have their career development encouraged.
We are committed to being responsible for our actions. Our values will be upheld through personal accountability, value-based decisions, leading by example, and by encouraging behavior based on our values. All employees are familiar with and are expected to uphold our values.
Our employees hold the highest regard for honesty and integrity. We are committed to following the highest standards of ethical conduct, fairness, and truth.