Colorado Community Paramedic Bill Signed by Governor Hickenlooper

EDWARDS, CO – A new state law gives Colorado’s community paramedics the ability to practice emergency medical procedures during calls. First responders across the state, including those with Eagle County Paramedic Service, are now regulated under legislation signed by Governor John Hickenlooper last week.

Christopher Montera, Interim CEO of Eagle County Paramedic Services, spent the past three years working with the Colorado legislature to ensure that community paramedicine programs protect patients and are staffed with educated and competent paramedics.

“This bill represents the best practices of community paramedic programs, not only in Colorado but around the country. I am so happy we were part of this historic effort,” Montera says.

State Senator Leroy Garcia from Pueblo, a paramedic himself, sponsored the bill in the Senate and Representative Dan Pabon of Denver cosponsored the bill in the House.

Eagle County Paramedics started the first rural community paramedic program in the United States in 2009 and began treating patients in 2010. The Eagle County program is credited with saving thousands of dollars in healthcare costs since its inception and has been a model program for hundreds of other agencies across the nation.

In a 2013 study performed by accounting firm Eide Bailly, the Eagle County program achieved over $500,000 in net healthcare cost savings in only three years.

This law had broad-based support from the emergency medical services community, including Colorado State Fire Chiefs Association, the Colorado Nurses Association, Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Counties, Special District Association of Colorado and the Colorado Home Care Association.

With the bill now in the state statue, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Board of Health will need to adopt rules for the programs as outlined in the bill. Montera stated that this process could take as long as two years based on other programs that have been adopted. “The hard work is just beginning,” states Montera as he described what’s next for the measure.

In the end, this law will allow agencies to bill insurance companies for emergency medical services and help EMS systems break even to provide the care.

Colorado is the first state to require the provider to take a college course and pass a national competency exam in order to become a community paramedic.

“This bill is about rural Colorado and using paramedics in other roles in the community when they are not on emergency calls,” says Montera. “It also gives a mechanism for urban areas to adopt smaller programs to serve special populations too.”

About ECPS

ECPS covers most of Eagle County with a response area of over 1,600 square miles including the communities of Vail, Avon, Edwards, Eagle and Gypsum. During the ski season, ECPS has five paramedic-staffed ambulances on duty county-wide; with one to two extra day-shift ambulances available to help with the increased call volume the ski season brings. There is also an on-call crew for transporting critically ill and injured patients to Denver-area hospitals. ECPS is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services and is one of only five agencies out of 200 in Colorado to be accredited.