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ATV aid for Sheriff, emergency services
The Pipestone County Sheriff’s Department and Ambulance Department received authorization from the County Board Tuesday to purchase a $9,500 All Terrain Vehicle (ATV).
The two departments will purchase the ATV using a $4,400 Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grant, $4,400 from the Ambulance Association and $2,200 from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) budget for sales tax, emergency lights and lettering.
The ATV will be stored at the EMS Building and used to provide public safety on the Casey Jones Trail and other areas where regular vehicles cannot travel. Sheriff Dan Delaney said the Casey Jones Trail is off limits to public ATV traffic, but emergency services can travel the trail in order to provide safety and respond to emergencies.
“That’s what we’re doing,” Delaney said. “We’re combining our resources. Steve’s department (EMS) and my department work very closely and this is an area where we can come up with some equipment at a reasonable price through a DNR grant.”
Delaney said the ATV could also be used in search and rescue operations and to transport injured parties by use of a toboggan that the Ambulance Department and Sheriff’s Department purchased using a similar DNR grant a few years ago. The toboggan can also be equipped with wheels and skis for year round use.
The ATV the departments will purchase is a used, 2008 Polaris Ranger 700 XP LE with a steel roof, windshield and roll bar. The 34 miles on the machine were put on while it was used as a demo model at Action Sports in Marshall.
The ATV is capable of highway speed and could be driven to locations or transported by trailer. It is an automatic four-wheel drive vehicle that could carry three people through snow, mud and various other places full size vehicles cannot go.
“It’s just exactly what we’re looking for,” said Steve Ewing, emergency services director.
Sheriff and Ambulance personnel must receive training before being authorized to use the ATV. Other emergency services in the county could also use the vehicle when necessary.
“We look at this as being a shared resource,” Ewing said. “We can share it with all our responders in an emergency in the county.”
For example, if there was an emergency requiring the vehicle for a search and rescue mission in Edgerton or Jasper, Ewing said, the ATV could be loaded onto a trailer and taken to the site.
For now, the funds for the vehicle would be taken from the Ambulance budget and be partially reimbursed by the Sheriff’s Department after the first of the year when Delaney receives the DNR grant money.
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