Air medical program hosts event to commemorate milestone anniversary

Taos, NM – Oct. 16, 2025 – TriState CareFlight 16, a trusted air medical provider based in Taos, celebrated two decades of lifesaving service today with a special anniversary event. Held at their hangar at Taos Regional Airport, the celebration brought together crew members and representatives from Holy Cross Hospital, the Angel Fire Fire Department, Red River Fire and EMS, Rio Arriba Central Dispatch, Rio Arriba County Fire Department, Taos Central Dispatch, Taos County EMS, Taos County Sheriff’s Department, Taos Volunteer Fire Department, Taos City Council, Taos City Manager, and Taos Regional Airport to honor this important milestone.

“People take for granted the noise they hear from the helicopter,” said Brittany Hamilton, chief nursing officer at Holy Cross Hospital. “When you hear that helicopter, you know help is on the way. Our first responders, nurses, and doctors are amazing, and all do a great job, but we can’t always offer the definitive care that people need. When we hear that helicopter landing, we know we can turn our patients over to safe care to get them where they need to be in order to get what they need to come back to our community.”

Along with its sister base in Santa Fe, TriState CareFlight is part of Air Methods, the leading air medical provider in the United States. Their helicopters function as flying ICUs, carrying the equipment and medications needed to save lives in emergency situations. Their industry-leading flight nurses and paramedics are trained to provide critical care to patients suffering from trauma due to accidents, cardiac and stroke events, high-risk obstetric emergencies, and more. The crews are equipped with whole blood for transfusions in flight and the ZOLL AutoPulse® NXT automated CPR device to deliver consistent, high-quality compressions for cardiac arrest patients

“There are a lot of lives and a lot of families that our crews have made a positive impact on,” said Air Methods Area Manager J. P. Martinez. “Our team does a fabulous job day in and day out. I’m proud of this team and the hard work they put into caring for this community.”

Air Methods is committed to providing air medical services to all members of the communities it serves and is in-network with most major health insurance providers across the country for emergency air medical services. Additionally, their patient advocacy program works with all patients, regardless of insurance, to ensure affordability while making pre-paid air medical membership unnecessary. “We are very proud of the exceptional care TriState CareFlight 16 has provided to the people of this community over the past 20 years,” said Air Methods Account Executive Adam Johnson. “We are the leaders in clinical quality, and we look forward to providing the best possible care to the people of Taos and northern New Mexico for the next 20 years.”