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

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 326 | Environmental Partisanship

Is green a red and blue construct? Put another way, is there a political partisan divide over the environment?

That’s a particularly interesting question, no doubt more so in recent years as the country seems to have drifted farther and farther apart because of our political beliefs. To that point, a reader reached out the other day to say our stories shouldn’t be negative on the Trump Administration because the national parks are going to need the help of all of us - Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and everything in-between - to survive.

May 25th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 325 | Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

News around public lands these days seems to revolve entirely around the Trump administration. In the case of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, many of the steps the administration is taking with the operational efficiencies of the National Park Service and other land management agencies certainly are keeping PEER busy.

May 18th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 324 | North American Bird Declines

True birders are some of the most determined and persistent hobbyists out there. If you want to call bird watching a hobby. For many, it’s more like a passion. Many look forward to “Big Day” competitions, where individuals and teams strive to see how many different bird species they can spot in a 24-hour period.

May 11th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 323 | Walt Dabney and Public Lands

It’s fair to say that the nation’s public lands, those managed by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal land-management agencies are at risk under the Trump administration.

There’s no hyperbole in that statement if you pay attention to what the administration already has done in terms of downsizing those agencies’ workforces, and when you listen to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum say he wants to open more public lands to energy development and mining.

May 4th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 322 | Congressman Jared Huffman

The first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term might be the most tumultuous first 100 days of any president. He certainly came in prepared to move his agenda forward, no matter what barriers to it existed.

We don’t usually discuss presidential politics, but President Trump has released a blizzard of executive orders and directives touching all corners of the federal government, including the National Park Service.

April 27th, 2025 Read More

INN Member

The easiest way to explore RV-friendly National Park campgrounds.

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

Here’s the definitive guide to National Park System campgrounds where RVers can park their rigs.

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

You’ll also find stories about RVing in the parks, tips helpful if you’ve just recently become an RVer, and useful planning suggestions.

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks