The Warren County government has added an all-terrain utility vehicle (UTV) to its emergency response capabilitis, using part of the remaining funding from its allotment of federal CARES Act coronavirus relief funding.

The John Deer Gator UTV was delivered to the county in early June, said Warren County Emergency Management Director Jim Sharp. The cost of the UTV, accompanying equipment and a trailer was $29,000, purchased from Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners.

Sharp explained that the vehicle can be deployed for a wide variety of missions, from large-scale health or vaccination clinics, to woodland fires, to severe traffic crashes. UTVs have been quite helpful during COVID-19 mass vaccination events in the region, Sharp said.

“For the mass vaccination clinics I helped plan and manage, these vehicles were essential. The clinics were held outdoors, one in particular being on a brutally cold day with snow and ice on the ground,” Sharp commented. “We assigned and used UTVs for shuttling supplies, transporting people at shift change, delivering meals, checking on people waiting in their cars in line, and delivering gas to motorists who might perhaps run out while waiting.

“We even had one assigned for patient transport in the event someone experienced a medical emergency while in line in their car,” Sharp added. “A standard ambulance would never have made it over open ground to a patient.”

He said the maneuverability of a UTV and ability to transport equipment or people could be crucial in other emergency situations where a larger rescue vehicle would struggle.

“Should I-70 or one of our other main traffic arteries shut down due to weather or an accident, the new Gator would allow us a level of mobility that would be really difficult with standard-sized vehicles. ... We would still be able to transport additional emergency response personnel and equipment to the scene, remove patients, and/or check the wellbeing of people waiting in traffic,” Sharp said.

Warren County Presiding Commissioner Joe Gildehaus said the new UTV could also be made available for standby at large-scale outdoor events, or to be used by emergency agencies that need it.

“The new Gator is a county asset, but we want to make it available for, or in support of, the emergency response agencies and municipalities within Warren County as well,” Gildehaus said. “If it’s available, and a public agency thinks they need it to better serve their community, that’s fine with us, because that’s our community, too.”