NE Colorado RETAC

04/18/2026

This week, NCRETAC joins the national public safety community in recognizing National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

Every coordinated EMS response in Northeast Colorado begins the same way — with a telecommunicator. They take the call, triage the information, initiate the dispatch, and in many cases begin pre-arrival care instructions before a single unit has moved.

The paramedics, EMTs, and first responders who serve this region do not function without them. That is not a courtesy acknowledgment. It is a clinical and operational fact.

To every telecommunicator serving the nine counties of Northeast Colorado: NCRETAC recognizes the expertise, discipline, and commitment that your work demands — and the system-level value you deliver every single day.



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04/17/2026

This opinion piece says plainly what many of us in EMS and rural health have known for a long time: EMS is essential. In Colorado, that recognition is overdue, and the case for it is practical, urgent, and rooted in how care actually reaches people across rural communities. House Bill 26-1238 designates EMS, including ambulance and air ambulance services, as essential services in Colorado. It now just awaits signature by Governor Jared Polis!

Thank you to Representative Dusty A Johnson for her collaboration with the NCRETAC and support for helping move this issue forward in a meaningful way. Thank you as well to NCRETAC Directors Travis Freeman and Keriann Josh for their leadership and continued work in strengthening rural EMS systems.

Rural EMS does not exist on the margins of the healthcare system. In many communities, it is the front door to care. Recognition should match reality.

By Dusty A. Johnson Currently, emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians such as EMTs and paramedics are not listed as essential in Colorado, and that is not OK. A few weeks ago, the Colorado House of Representatives unambiguously passed a bill to designate emergency medical services as an essenti...

04/11/2026

Congratulations, Kristie Skala!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DbFrnm6kc/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Aims Community College’s Kristie Skala recognized as EMS instructor of the year

04/10/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DyHyaDH4p/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Some names should never be forgotten.

Behind every uniform is a life, a family, a story. Today, we honor three of our own…

These were members of our EMS family—providers who showed up for others on their worst days, who carried the weight of this job, and who made a difference in ways that will never fully be measured.

They were more than their uniforms.
They were teammates, friends, family.
They mattered. They still matter.

We say their names. We remember their lives. We carry them with us.

💙

We also know their stories are not the only ones.

If you have lost a loved one in EMS to su***de or mental health struggles, we would be honored to remember them alongside our own. We are creating a space to share their stories, their impact, and who they were beyond the job.

If you feel comfortable, please send us a photo and a short bio.
Let’s make sure they are never forgotten.

NoCo SOL Fund | EMS Strong | Northern Colorado | Support EMS | First Responder Wellness | Carry Them With Us | Say Their Names

04/01/2026

Congratulations to the Emergency Communications Center on earning Medical ACE accreditation — the world's 116th — a milestone that belongs to every dispatcher, training officer, and QA professional who built the protocols and culture that made it possible.

Accreditation at this level is not a ribbon-cutting moment. It is evidence of sustained operational discipline: structured protocols followed under pressure, quality assurance cycles that actually change practice, and leadership willing to hold the line on standards when volume and stress push back. That is hard institutional work, and it shows.

For those of us focused on EMS system governance across the region, this matters beyond Loveland. Dispatch accreditation is the upstream infrastructure for everything that happens after the call is answered — unit selection, pre-arrival instruction, scene intelligence. When that layer is performing at a verified standard, every agency receiving those calls is better positioned to deliver care. Medical ACE status is a system-level quality credential, not just an agency one.

Northern Colorado is fortunate to have partners who pursue this standard. Well done to the entire Loveland ECC team.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FtDatVUBX/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Loveland Police Department

Great news from the Centennial State: Loveland Emergency Communications Center (Colorado, USA) has been accredited for the very first time as the world’s 116th Medical ACE! This is an amazing achievement for everyone involved from the line dispatchers to the training officers to the QAs. We can't wait to celebrate with you at NAVIGATOR in a few weeks!

Loveland Police Department

04/01/2026

NCRETAC is pleased to announce that, effective today, all regional EMS governance in Northeast Colorado will be restructured under a single unified authority: the Northeast Colorado Regional Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Advisory Super Council for Integrated Multi-Jurisdictional Pre-Hospital System Coordination and Oversight (NCREMSATASCIMJPHSCO).

Our new acronym is unpronounceable. Our new logo is pending. Our board meeting agenda is 47 items long.

Happy April Fools’ Day from everyone at NCRETAC — where we keep the name short and the mission serious. 💚

03/27/2026

The NCRETAC hosted the honorable for a two day master class on frontline supervision with attendees from four counties. Sharing nearly five decades of wisdom from his amazing career with our region is truly an honor. We look forward to his return in a few weeks to address the needs of department heads, chiefs, and directors.

03/12/2026

First responder wellness is something we talk about more and more, but meaningful solutions require listening to the people doing the work.

The Northeast Colorado Regional EMS and Trauma Advisory Council (NCRETAC) is working to establish a Regional Peer Support Team and Health & Wellness Committee to better support the well-being of responders in our region and beyond.

This short video explains the effort and why responder wellness matters for the long-term health of our profession.

At the end of the video, you’ll find a very short survey (about 3 minutes) to help us better understand:
• wellness resources currently available
• barriers to accessing support
• priorities for future programs

We welcome perspectives from responders in Colorado, across the U.S., and internationally.

Your input will help inform how we strengthen peer support and responder wellness moving forward.

Watch the video and share your perspective at:
https://bit.ly/ResponderWellnessCO

03/11/2026

Today we are proud to introduce the Northeast Colorado Regional Peer Support Team.

Emergency services professionals routinely carry the weight of difficult calls, long hours, and the cumulative stress that comes with serving others during their worst moments. Peer support recognizes a simple truth: the people who understand this work best are often those who do it alongside us.

The Northeast Colorado Regional Peer Support Team brings together trained peers from across our region to provide confidential support, connection, and resources for EMS clinicians, firefighters, dispatchers, and other first responders. This effort reflects a growing commitment within emergency services to care for the well-being of those who serve our communities every day.

Our guiding principle is simple: Connected in Strength. United in Support.

No one in this profession should have to carry the difficult parts of the job alone.

More information on how to access peer support resources and how to become involved will be shared soon.

03/07/2026

The NCRETAC Injury Prevention Committee is making a difference — and this is a perfect example of why.

Committee member Greg Colton and the UCHealth EMS team have conducted over 3,550 free prenatal seatbelt checks across Larimer and Weld counties, and their data shows it works: 86% of participants continue wearing their seatbelt correctly afterward, compared to just 14% who receive materials alone.

Only 12% of pregnant drivers buckle up correctly. Free checks, infant CPR classes, and car seat installation help are available now — call Greg directly at 970-286-1857.

This is our region doing injury prevention right👏

🔗 https://www.uchealth.org/today/free-seatbelt-checks-buckle-up-correctly-during-pregnancy/

Seatbelts are worn incorrectly 77% of the time by pregnant women, but UCHealth EMS is on a mission to change that with free seatbelt checks.

03/06/2026

KUNC 91.5fm is covering the legislative work that could reshape EMS funding in Colorado — and it’s worth your attention.

HB26-1069 would expand Medicaid and insurance reimbursement for EMS to include treatment in place, behavioral health transports, and telehealth-assisted calls. The current model — pay only for transport to an ER — has been a structural funding problem for decades. This bill addresses it directly.

Nonpartisan fiscal analysts project the measure saves Colorado $2.1 million in its first year and $4.9 million annually thereafter — real numbers in a year when the state is managing a billion-dollar budget deficit.

HB26-1238 provides the statutory foundation. HB26-1069 provides the funding mechanism. Together, they do what the EMS community has needed for a long time.

Both bills passed committee unanimously.
🔗 https://www.kunc.org/politics/2026-03-04/ambulance-services-could-get-funding-boost-while-saving-the-state-millions-under-new-bill

The measure would expand the treatment options EMS agencies can bill for and lower state health care spending by reducing emergency room visits.