27 October, 2010:
In September 2009 we submitted a grant to the Regional Emergency Medical and Trauma Advisory Councils (RETAC), under the State’s Emergency Medical and Trauma Services (EMTS) department for two tracked ATV vehicles to augment our winter rescue capabilities. We were denied that grant. Undeterred, we again submitted a grant request to the same entity this February for a single tracked ATV and a rescue trailer to transport injured subjects and also requested 70% matching funds. That grant of $12,700 was awarded to CCSAR on 30 June, 2010. In July of this year Custer County awarded CCSAR $6000, from leftover conservation funds, to complete the purchase of the ATV and Trailer.
This Fall we purchased a 700cc Yamaha Rhino with tracks from Fremont Motorsports in Florence, CO. In addition, we bought an ATR-2 rescue trailer from All Terrain Res-Q in Cortland, NY.
John Natalie, Bud Bennett, and Bob Pruiksma take County Commissioner Jim Austin for a spin with the new equipment. Photo Courtesy of The Wet Mountain Tribune.
This equipment will greatly expand our winter rescue capabilities. The ATV will deliver two rescuers to the rescue site and be able to retrieve at least two subjects (one injured and one ambulatory). It will also carry rescue equipment and a litter to and from the site. It will perform in situations where a snowmobile would not be effective, such as heavily treed or rocky terrain. The tracked ATV will operate effectively in snow depths three times that which renders a snowmobile immobile. We will use this ATV year round; It will perform better than a wheeled ATV in muddy spring conditions – especially where there is deep snow and bare ground along the roads or trails.
The sheriff’s office is asking CCSAR to perform more welfare checks on residences in remote areas during extreme winter conditions. The sheriff expects our welfare check calls to increase by 50% now that we have this capability.
We will measure the success of these vehicles by the reduced time required to get responders and equipment to the subjects. In past years, a winter mission would require the “hasty” team to snowshoe through three feet of snow, with very heavy packs of equipment, for 3-4 miles on a road before going off road to get to the subject. This would require about 4 hours. We expect the response times to be closer to one hour when these vehicles are employed. The improved response time can mean life or death for the subject.
