It can happen in a blink. One minute you’re walking down the stairs, and the next you’re on the ground. Or you hit an icy patch on the sidewalk and realize your feet are no longer on terra firma. Maybe you discover you can’t get up from the bathtub or the sofa.

Fire departments respond to what’s known as a “lift assist” on a regular basis. In the Pikes Peak region, the service is free to anyone, anywhere.

Requests usually come through the 911 emergency system or sometimes to a station and are considered a community service, just like extinguishing fires, rescuing people who are trapped, being at the scene of accidents and rendering medical care as a first responder.

It’s all part of the job, said Dottie Barrett, administrative chief at the Stratmoor Hills Fire Protection District, which serves about 10,000 residents in unincorporated El Paso County and areas adjacent to south Colorado Springs.

“We have a lot of senior citizens in our district, and so we get phone calls at 1 or 2 in the morning,” she said. “They get up to use the restroom and fall in the bathroom. We pick them up and help them get back to bed.”

This year is tracking similar to last year: From Jan. 1 through July 31, her fire district responded to 28 calls for lift assist; in all of 2025, the department fielded 63 calls.

It’s one of the most common calls the Colorado Springs Fire Department receives, said spokesperson Ashley Franco. “We see a mixture of people falling in their homes, public places and aging facilities.”

The number of lift-assist calls to the Colorado Springs Fire Department has been steadily climbing, from 2,673 in 2022 to 3,176 for 2025.

This year, with 1,752 calls from Jan. 1 through the first few weeks of July, demand could hit a new high. The aging population is perhaps one reason.

Some fire departments classify “lift assist” separately from people who fall and need medical attention because then an ambulance responds, as well.

Local patients receive a bill for ambulance transportation to a hospital but not for a fire department lift assist, whether the request comes from a private home or residential health care facility, such as a nursing center, independent and assisted-living complex or housing for disabled people.

“These are district residents. They pay their taxes, so we don’t charge,” Barrett said.

Some communities in other states charge licensed care facilities for nonmedical lift assist.

As the number of inquiries topped 1,000 in 2024, the municipal fire department in Decatur, Ill., instituted a one-year experimental fee of $500 per call from facilities where the patient only needed to be moved and not medically attended to by responders.

The Decatur Fire Department said publicly that it determined the fee by averaging time and resources involved in responding to a nonmedical lift-assist call.

Seeing a 60% decrease in calls from such facilities over a two-year average and bringing in $13,500 from fees, Decatur made the fee permanent last year, according to a news release.

The fee is waived for calls from private residences or in medical emergencies resulting from falls, though.

The city of Everett, Wash., fines licensed care facilities $600 per call for violating a city ordinance that took effect in January.

The Everett Fire Department said the action was not taken as a new revenue source but rather to incentivize such facilities to have staff to perform nonemergency duties and “prevent misuse” of the system.

Working with health care facilities

The percentage of calls for lift assist is small, say local fire department officials.

“We have a lot of lift assists, but they’re not as frequent as you might think,” said Rickie Cooper, fire inspector for the Security Fire Department. The fire protection district operates four stations that serve 65,000 to 70,000 people over 25 square miles in the Security and Widefield areas of El Paso County.

Non-medical lift-assist calls comprised about 4% of the total 80,680 emergency assistance calls the Colorado Springs Fire Department received last year in city limits.

Like other calls, lift assist is prioritized by the nature of the emergency, with higher-acuity situations ranking above others and receiving attention sooner.

Still, the service can put a strain on crews in metro Colorado Springs, Franco said, particularly when people from the same address repeatedly need assistance.

“Our goal is to focus on prevention versus stopping people from calling 911 altogether, but we want to give people the tools they need to prevent falls and only call 911 for true emergencies,” Franco said.

For the most part, local businesses and organizations that provide in-home medical assistance, such as hospice care and medical visitation companies, don’t overuse the courtesy, according to officials.

“We have some frequent flyers — every fire department does,” said Barrett of Stratmoor Hills. “As long as they don’t abuse the 911 system and actually need help, that’s our job.”

When a senior-living facility or in-home care service racks up a high amount of calls for nonmedical lift assist, Colorado Springs Fire Department dispatches a risk-reduction team to help leaders and staff “identify contributing factors and practical solutions,” said Kalee Nappo, the department’s community risk-reduction specialist.

“The team reviews call trends, staff practices, emergency procedures and existing lift assist policies to determine how resident safety and response practices can be improved,” she said.

The program isn’t a “one-size-fits-all approach,” Nappo said, but customizes education and training on fall injury and prevention, safe resident movement and lifting practices, emergency decision making, fire safety, evacuation procedures and appropriate 911 use.

Residents also may be taught how they can prevent falls and when emergency assistance is needed — which is whenever there’s indication of an injury or medical crisis, Nappo said.

The process helps residents, who benefit from improved safety practices and firefighters, who benefit from safer environments and fewer preventable lifting situations that may contribute to cumulative strain or injury, she said.

“Reducing preventable responses also helps maintain crew availability for fires, medical emergencies, rescues and other time-sensitive incidents across Colorado Springs,” Nappo said.

Long-standing community service

Sometimes, employees at care facilities just aren’t able to lift someone, especially a person who is obese, said Matt Gortner, division chief of operations for Cimarron Hills Fire District, which covers 24,000 residents in neighborhoods including Palmer Park and Sand Creek.

When one of its ladder trucks or fire engines answers a lift-assist call, a unit of four firefighters is on board, he said.

“It’s helpful to have more people, so we’re not getting injured with obese patients or awkward movements, such as stairs,” Gortner said.

“We get quite a bit of calls for lift assist, many from people home from surgery or because they have health issues. It’s pretty steady, and that’s what we’re here for.”

If the Cimarron Hills department receives another 911 call at the same time or during a lift assist, “We have another heavy apparatus or ambulance that can take that call,” Gortner said.

Firefighters also check smoke alarms in the home and features such as hand railings, looking for hazards.

“We’ll help them secure balusters and other things that will assist them in the home,” Gortner said.

Lift assist has been a long-standing community service of fire departments, Barrett of the Stratmoor Hills Fire Protection District noted, and often considered a compassionate obligation.

“We’ve had a few people who have no family and no means of taking care of themselves and 911 is their only resource,” she said. “Some are bed-bound and by themselves, and if they need to go to the bathroom, we get called.”

Sometimes, a lift assist turns into a medical case after firefighters arrive, Barrett said. “We never know. We have to be prepared for more, no matter what we get called to.”

That’s why the Security Fire Department doesn’t break out lift assist calls from medical calls. Because what is reported into the 911 queue as help for someone who has fallen can be elevated to a medical case after first responders arrive at the location, Cooper said.

Every lift assist call in his district yields a fire engine with three firefighters, an ambulance with two paramedics and a battalion chief with apparatus.

“We evaluate every patient to make sure there’s nothing that isn’t being identified from a fall,” Cooper said. “There’s a lot of adrenaline going on, so it could be something more urgent than just a fall.”

Firefighters also may encounter people on oxygen or with wound-evacuation equipment, or who have taken a tumble from a wheelchair — all of which require special precautions.

Other unique circumstances include houses that are difficult for responders to maneuver in due to a hoarding situation or overcrowding of residents and possessions.

“Safety is No. 1. We want to do it in a safe manner and utilize equipment such as a stair chair,” he said. “You need enough people because you don’t want to be assisting someone and create a bigger injury than when you arrived.”

Emphasizing fall prevention

Without knowledge of how to prevent falls and what to do if a slip happens, people may not know how to safely get up or are unable to due to injury, said Adrienne Timmons, director of health strategy and integration for Silver Key Senior Services.

People ages 65 and older are more susceptible to breaking a hip from a fall, which usually means a trip to the emergency department and possibly hospitalization, she said. “The goal of preventive services is to reduce the need for emergency medical services and stress of the medical trauma.”

Silver Key hosts workshops on falls, fitness classes intended to build bone strength and improve balance and safe transportation to places such as grocery stores, doctor appointments and outings.

The nonprofit organization that helps seniors remain independent also offers in-home services such as adding safety features, meal delivery, companionship visits and case management.  

“Proper equipment like grab bars can help people not only stay safer but also maintain confidence in their most comfortable surroundings,” Timmons said.

“Once people have a fear of falling, they may become less active due to that fear and this can create a higher risk of a fall due to inactivity.”

Colorado Springs Fire Department

Non-medical lift assist calls/all calls for service

2022 — 2,673 — 78,225

2023 — 2,755 — 75,652

2024 — 2,849 — 77,505

2025 — 3,176 — 80,680

2026 — 1,752 (YTD)