Fire departments across the Pikes Peak region are responding in growing numbers to requests for "lift assist" — calls from residents who have fallen or cannot get up on their own — and local officials say demand shows no sign of easing.
Fire departments respond to lift-assist calls on a regular basis, and in the Pikes Peak region the service is free to anyone, anywhere. Requests usually come through the 911 emergency system or sometimes directly to a station and are treated as a community service, alongside extinguishing fires, rescuing trapped individuals and rendering medical care.
Lift assist is one of the most common calls the Colorado Springs Fire Department receives, according to department spokesperson Ashley Franco, who said responders "see a mixture of people falling in their homes, public places and aging facilities." The number of such calls has climbed steadily, from 2,673 in 2022 to 3,176 in 2025. With 1,752 calls logged from January through the first few weeks of July this year, demand could reach a new high.
Non-medical lift-assist calls comprised about 4 percent of the 80,680 total emergency assistance calls the Colorado Springs Fire Department received last year within city limits. Even so, the service can put a strain on crews, particularly when people from the same address repeatedly need assistance. Local patients receive no bill for a fire department lift assist, whether the request comes from a private home or a residential health care facility.
Smaller district departments report similar patterns. 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, administrative chief Dottie Barrett said the district sees frequent overnight calls. "They get up to use the restroom and fall in the bathroom. We pick them up and help them get back to bed." From January through July 31 of this year, the district responded to 28 lift-assist calls; it fielded 63 in all of 2025. At the Security Fire Department, the department does not break out lift-assist calls from medical calls, because what is reported as help for someone who has fallen can be elevated to a medical case after first responders arrive.
Rather than restrict access to the service, Colorado Springs Fire Department is emphasizing prevention. "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. When a senior-living facility or in-home care service accumulates a high number of nonmedical lift-assist calls, the department dispatches a risk-reduction team to help leaders and staff identify contributing factors and practical solutions. The team reviews call trends, staff practices, emergency procedures and existing lift-assist policies. The program customizes education and training on fall prevention, safe resident movement and lifting practices, emergency decision-making and appropriate 911 use.
"Reducing preventable responses also helps maintain crew availability for fires, medical emergencies, rescues and other time-sensitive incidents across Colorado Springs," said the department's community risk-reduction specialist.
Community organizations are working in parallel. Silver Key Senior Services hosts workshops on falls, fitness classes intended to build bone strength and improve balance, and safe transportation options. The nonprofit also offers in-home services such as adding safety features, meal delivery and case management. 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.
Some jurisdictions outside Colorado have moved toward charging licensed care facilities for nonmedical lift assists. The municipal fire department in Decatur, Ill., instituted an experimental fee of $500 per call from facilities where the patient only needed to be moved and not medically attended to; the department said it set the fee by averaging time and resources involved. Seeing a 60 percent decrease in calls from such facilities over a two-year average and bringing in $13,500 in fees, Decatur made the fee permanent last year. No Pikes Peak area department has announced any similar measure.
Whether year-end 2026 call totals confirm a new record for Colorado Springs Fire Department remains to be seen, and officials have not indicated whether additional policy changes are under consideration.