Eagle County paramedic Chris Rauzi takes a national honor for a backcountry rescue
Rauzi received the Emergency Medical Services Hero Award at the National First Responders Day celebration in Times Square on Oct. 28, three weeks after Eagle County honored the same Wolcott climbing rescue at its Night of Excellence.
A paramedic who carried whole blood into the backcountry near Wolcott last November now holds a national medal for the rescue. Chris Rauzi of Eagle County Paramedic Services received the Emergency Medical Services Hero Award at the seventh annual National First Responders Day Roll Call of Heroes celebration in Times Square on Oct. 28, according to the First Responders Children's Foundation, which runs the event.
Rauzi was one of 19 first responders from across the country to receive the foundation's Hero of Honor medal at the ceremony, which was hosted by Jon Stewart and presented by T-Mobile. The foundation says the medals were presented by three children of Robert Sivori, a New York City police officer who died in the line of duty, that this year's celebration was the first in which members of the public could submit nominations, and that 37 states issued proclamations marking National First Responders Day. The foundation was created after the Sept. 11 attacks and marked its 25th anniversary this year.
The rescue behind the award
The national honor traces to a climbing accident near Wolcott on Nov. 2, 2025. In its account of the county's 13th annual Night of Excellence, held Oct. 3 at 4 Eagle Ranch in Wolcott, Eagle County says the Wolcott Climbing Rescue received the Call of the Year award, one of two incidents so honored this year. Eagle River Fire Rescue, the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District, Eagle County Paramedic Services, Vail Mountain Rescue and Flight for Life were recognized for a complex technical rope rescue that brought a critically injured climber out of remote backcountry terrain after a forty foot fall.
At the same ceremony, Rauzi received the Lifesaving Medal. The county's account credits his instincts in giving the climber prehospital whole blood in the field, which stabilized the climber for a two hour extraction, and that the rescued climber, Josie Lotaba, credited Rauzi with saving her life. The second Call of the Year award went to thirteen agencies for the coordinated response to the Jan. 13, 2026 officer involved shooting and manhunt at Dotsero.
This event allows us to recognize the extraordinary bravery and quiet heroism of our local emergency personnel. The stories behind these awards demonstrate the strong partnerships between our paramedics, firefighters, and law enforcement officers, whose united efforts protect us all.
Birch Barron, Eagle County Director of Emergency Management (Eagle County release, Oct. 6, 2026)
The transfusion Rauzi gave in the field was possible because of a program the district had launched less than a month earlier. Beginning Oct. 8, 2025, Eagle County Paramedic Services supervisors began carrying whole blood, in a program run with Denver Health and the American Red Cross, so crews can transfuse whole blood, its red cells, plasma and platelets together, before a patient reaches a hospital. The district says whole blood that is not used within seven days is returned to Denver Health and used in the hospital, so no supply is wasted.
A district built for distance
Eagle County Paramedic Services, formally the Eagle County Health Service District, is a Colorado special district that answers more than 6,000 requests for service a year across approximately 1,692 square miles, taking in most of Eagle County and the eastern portion of Garfield County. It staffs five stations, in Vail, Avon, Edwards, Eagle and Gypsum, owns 14 advanced life support ambulances and employs about 100 people, including 60 paramedics. Its coverage includes the Vail and Beaver Creek resorts and 63 miles of Interstate 70.
Will Cook, the president and chief executive officer of Vail Health, gave the keynote address at the county ceremony on Oct. 3, just over three weeks before Rauzi received his medal in Times Square. For a district whose everyday work runs from Interstate 70 crashes to rope rescues far from the road, the two ceremonies told the same story at two scales: the rescue the county named among the best of its year in public safety is now part of the national record as well.
