National Parks Traveler Episode 113: Emergency Medicine In National Parks

By Kurt Repanshek - April 11th, 2021

It’s a sound you instantly recognize, and one you hope isn’t coming to your location. It’s the wailing siren of an ambulance responding to an emergency. In the National Park System during the height of summer, the sound can be very familiar.

In this week’s show, we sit down with a paramedic who triggers the siren when he jumps into his ambulance in response to a call for help. It’s a conversation that will leave you with a better understanding and appreciation for the vital role these individuals serve in seeing that national park visitors who are injured or come down with a debilitating illness receive prompt care and are able, if possible, to resume their vacation.

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode introduction with Kurt Repanshek
:48 Big Country - Randy Petersen - The Sounds of Yellowstone
:58 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
1:21 Friends of Acadia
1:49 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
2:21 Interior Federal Credit Union
3:04 Kevin Grange discusses his career as a paramedic in Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Yosemite national parks.
16:44 Amaranth - Bill Mize - The Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains
17:04 National Parks Traveler
17:17 North Cascades Institute
17:35 Potrero Group
18:02 Washington’s National Park Fund
18:38 Western National Parks Association
19:02 Our conversation with Kevin Grange resumes.
34:20 The Horsemen - Randy Petersen - The Spirit of South Dakota
34:47 Episode Closing
35:11 Orange Tree Productions
35:45 Splitbeard Productions
35:56 National Parks Traveler footer

National Parks Traveler Podcast

Add comment

form.antibot { display: none !important; } You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form.

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 272 | Fossilized Parks

Have you ever closely inspected the landscape when you’re touring the National Park System, particularly in the West? You never know what you might find.
Back in 2010 a 7-year-old attending a Junior Ranger program at Badlands National Park spied a partially exposed fossil that turned out to be the skull of a 32-million-year-old saber-toothed cat.
If you’ve ever visited Petrified Forest National Park you’ve no doubt marveled over the colorful fossilized tree trunks. There are also fossilized trees on the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, but nowhere near as colorful.

April 28th, 2024 - Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 271 | Wolverine Recovery in Colorado

Wolverines, the largest land-dwelling members of the weasel family, once roamed across the northern tier of the United States, and as far south as New Mexico in the Rockies and southern California in the Sierra Nevada range. But after more than a century of trapping and habitat loss, wolverines in the lower 48 today exist only as small, fragmented populations in Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and northeast Oregon.

April 21st, 2024 - Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 270 | Cultural Resource Challenge

Spur a discussion about traveling to a national park for a vacation and odds are that it will revolve around getting out into nature, looking for wildlife, perhaps honing your photography skills, or marveling at incredible vistas.
Will the discussion include destinations that portray aspects of the country’s history, or cultural melting pot?

April 14th, 2024 - Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 269 | Total Solar Eclipse of the Parks

Tens of millions of people in the United States will be able to witness a Total Solar Eclipse on Monday as the rare astronomical event cuts a path from Texas to Maine, up to 122 miles wide in some spots. This is a great opportunity to see the exact moment when the moon fully blocks the sun, creating a blazing corona visible to those observing from the center line of totality.

April 7th, 2024 - Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 268 | Music Inspired By The Parks

With March madness down to the Sweet 16, and Opening Day of Major League Baseball having arrived, we’re going to take a break this week and dive into our podcast archives for this week’s show.

This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at the National Parks Traveler. My NCAA bracket was busted the very first day, and while the Yankees won their opening day game against the Houston Astros, I don’t think they’ll go undefeated this year.

March 31st, 2024 - Read More

Support Journalism about National Parks!

National Parks Traveler is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Donate Now!

The Essential RVing Guide

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.