For nearly a decade, Lt. Ryan Medhurst has spent his free time responding to emergencies in Longmont. Whether tasked with sweeping up broken glass after a car crash, conducting traffic or wading through a pond at 3 a.m. searching for a stolen gun, Medhurst takes pride in the work.
An information technology specialist by day, Medhurst is part of a small group of people — some retired, others with different day jobs — who volunteer with the Longmont Emergency Unit. Members of the all-volunteer search and rescue organization are trained in emergency medicine and respond to traffic crashes, conduct water rescues, and help police with traffic control and evidence recovery.
Itap not a glamorous job, but itap a necessary one, Medhurst said.
“We’re problem solvers,” he said, adding, “We’re all here to keep the public safe, keep all their first responders safe.”
The unit has helped with emergency services in Longmont and around Boulder County since 1957. In recent years, however, the unit has struggled to recruit volunteers and secure enough funding.
“Itap getting a little tight. If we don’t figure it out, either with donations or other contracts, there is a reality that we may not be here in the future,” said former LEU Chief Mike Anderson. “Once we go through our savings, thatap it. Then we can’t pay the power bill.”
Change over time
The Longmont Emergency Unit formed in the summer of 1957 after the highlighted a need for people experienced in water-related rescues. The unitap dive rescue team became one of the first in Colorado, according to Times-Call archives.
Over the decades, the all-volunteer group led searches for downed planes and missing people, rescued kids who fell into lakes and rivers, and extricated people from crashed cars. They’ve stationed themselves at the Boulder County Fair, parades and other large events in case of medical emergencies, and responded to large-scale events like the 2013 floods and the 2021 Marshall Fire.
Kevin Wells, the unitap dive instructor, has been volunteering with the unit off and on since about 1996. In those early years, he recalls, LEU had about 55 members and a waiting list for those wanting to join.
Now, the unit has about 18 members, likely the smallest crew in quite a while, according to Anderson.
“As departments become bigger, better funded, they have less of a need (for) some of the things we did in the past,” Medhurst said.
Still, the group stays busy with about 200 to 300 calls each year — often helping with “oddball things” or traffic control during major incidents when police need all hands on deck, Medhurst said.
Longmont residents can often see LEU volunteers at the scenes of serious or fatal car crashes or SWAT calls — situations that require a lot of manpower.
In February, LEU was called to help when a in a hit-and-run crash in Erie.
“Our big vehicle is special; it has a light tower on it, and they needed that for the investigation as the sun went down,” said Rich Pateman, a Longmont resident and LEU volunteer.
“Itap a force multiplier, and to the taxpayers, a cost saving because we’re a lot cheaper than a fully paid employee,” Medhurst said.
The group works closely with Longmont police, with whom they have an “excellent relationship,” Medhurst said. Police have a substation in LEU’s building at 663 17th Avenue, where they sometimes stop by to write reports.
On New Year’s Day, some LEU volunteers and a Longmont officer were eating pizza together when police were dispatched to a .
“We all went running out the door together, and we worked the call together,” Medhurst recalled.
Mike Butler, who led the Longmont Police Department from 1994 to 2020, said the public safety department called on LEU “quite a bit” for a variety of different situations during his tenure.
“I can’t tell you how many times I would be driving through the city or walking through an area and see LEU resources at work,” Butler said. “We often commented within the organization how valuable they were and how much help they were.”
In a statement, Longmont spokesperson Rogelio Mares said LEU has been a partner to Longmont Public Safety for many years, “providing assistance on a wide range of public safety calls in our community.”
Mares would not comment further on whether police found LEU’s assistance useful or if they were concerned that LEU might not be around if it can’t secure more funding.
Financial trouble
In the early years, the unit raised funds for vehicles and its first “jaws of life” through spaghetti dinners and other fundraisers. Now, the unit operates on a budget of about $65,000 — most of which comes from a contract with the city of Longmont.
Thatap not enough to sustain the unit, which spends tens of thousands of dollars each year on vehicle and workers’ compensation insurance, according to Anderson. In recent years, they’ve spent more than $20,000 on their aging building, after a roof leak turned into a flood and they discovered HVAC problems.
“Our expenses have gone up, and not just insurance, but gas, vehicle cost, medical gear. Everything costs more,” Medhurst said.
The unit has asked the city for more money, but the city isn’t “in a place” to give, Anderson said. The unit received just under $61,000 from the city last year, according to city records.
The organization is looking for grants, but applying can be challenging, as the all-volunteer agency doesn’t have a grant writer.
“We’ve watched our savings deplete, basically, over the last five years,” Anderson said.
“We try to be as frugal and as efficient as we can, but itap getting to the point where to cut back any further is getting rid of core capabilities,” Medhurst said. “Do we get rid of the dive team? Do we get rid of the medical team?”
The unit might not be able to keep the lights on in a year or 18 months unless something changes, Anderson said.
“We would kind of have to figure out another plan or close, which we don’t want. We’ve been here (nearly) 70 years,” he said.
For many of LEU’s members, the work they do is a passion, and they hope to continue.
“You’re almost 70 years old, what are you doing on a SWAT call?” Pateman, who is retired, recalls friends asking him. “I was like, well, itap interesting work. Itap valuable work. It needs to be done.”
Medhurst agrees.
“You have those moments where you’re like, ‘hey, we made a difference here.’ You live for those moments.”
