About us

Mission:   
Med Evac is committed to the delivery of safe, compassionate and clinically excellent patient care. 

Values:   
Safety above all.  Teamwork through respect, participation, accountability, honesty and integrity.  Adaptability through science based protocols.  Results through exceeding the expectations of our customers in a fiscally responsible manner. 

Vision:   
Med Evac will be an industry leader in critical care air transport service.  Our team will be differentiated by our commitment to excellent patient care, safety, quality leadership, integrated team involvement, innovation in operations and treating our clients with respect and integrity while fostering the Banner Health values.

History:
1982
  • July 1, AirLife starts service
  • Holly Pederson, RN is first chief flight nurse
  • Frank Purdie, MD, is the first medical director
  • First flight patient is a 10-month-old with burns (flight team of Pam Tolson, RN and Rick Weber, EMT-P)
  • First helicopter is a Bell 206 L1, painted white and blue
  • Flew 133 missions in our first year of service
1986
  • The 1,000th flight occurs for a one-year-old drowning victim who was resuscitated and made a full recovery (flight team of Mary Mack, RN and Cindy Engle, EMT-P) 
1988
  • AirLife performs 303 flights
1989
  • AirLife upgrades to a Bell 206 LongRanger III, painted white and blue, which later in the year gets a new paint scheme of maroon and silver
  • Lyn Maier, RN becomes chief flight nurse
  • 410 flights are performed; 59 percent scene calls, 41 percent inter-facility transfers
  • Total of more than 1,700 patient transports completed
1991
  • Dr. Tim Hutchison becomes AirLife's medical director
1992
  • AirLife celebrates 10 years of service
  • More than 3,200 transports completed
1996
  • AirLife obtains CAMTS accreditation; one of only 36 programs nationwide to receive this distinction at the time
  • Receives the Air Medical Safety Award for 5,000 consecutive accident free EMS missions
1997
  • AirLife upgrades to a Bell 407 helicopter, painted red, white, and blue
2001
  • AirLife does our first Intra Aortic Balloon Pump transport  (Jamie Miskol, RN, Bob Walter, EMT-P, and Carl Tafoya, pilot)
2002
  • AirLife celebrates 20 years of service
  • 10,000th flight celebrated (Kerry Evens, RN, Chip Brownlee, and John Bandy, Pilot)
2003
  • Receives the Air Medical Safety Award for 10,000 consecutive accident free EMS helicopter missions
2004
  • AirLife performs more than 700 flights per year in a single Bell 407
  • AirLife has flown more than 1.5 million miles since 1982  
  • Terry York has remained the lead mechanic since 1982
2007
  • AirLife celebrates its 25th year with over 15,000 incident-free flights
2008
  • On Feb. 1, AirLife of Greeley becomes North Colorado Med Evac
  • A new partnership with Med-Trans Corp. is formed

2010
  • NCME establishes the High Risk OB Team
  • Preferred provider obtained from The Children's Hospital of Colorado
2012
  • Shannon Sovndal MD becomes the Medical Director of the program
2014
  • NCME opens 3rd base in Akron CO
  • Preferred provider established with Denver Health
  • Med Evac II aircraft is permanently relocated from Erie to the Boulder Community Health - Foothills Medical Campus
2015
  • 100% of NCME paramedics obtain their FP-C (flight paramedic certification)
  • NCME Medical Director Shannon Sovndal is sworn in by the AAMS board of directors and appointed Region II Director
2017
  • 100% of NCME communication specialists obtain their IMATCS certification
  • NCME adds ABLS, TPATC and STABLE certifications for all med-crew
2018
  • NCME adds EDAN Electronic Fetal Heart monitors too all aircraft to support our High Risk OB patient's
  • NCME establishes relationship with AMR-Boulder to perform critical care ground transports out of Boulder Community Hospital
  • NCME names Sterling Fire Department with inaugural EMS agency of the year award
2019
  • North Colorado Med Evac changes their name to Med Evac
  • Med Evac transitions its fleet from the Bell 407 to the Airbus H125 to include upgraded safety features such as: crash resistant fuel system, and crash worthy pilot seat
  • ME names Grand County EMS as recipient of the agency of the year award
Picture of old Airlife of Greeley helicopter
Photo credit to Matthew Carlson
Picture
Photo credit to Bo Cheatham