| In recent years, the big brother of ATV's, known as | | | | at turning radius on the 6x6 versus the 4x4, or is the |
| the UTV, have seen a rapid rise in use by emergency | | | | payload requirements of your mission dictates the |
| services organizations across the country. Fire, Police | | | | 6x6 over the 4x4. |
| and EMS are now recognizing a wide variety of uses | | | | On cargo bed requirements for a medical type skid |
| and applications for these UTV vehicles including wild | | | | unit, I have a rule of thumb that the UTV you are |
| land firefighting, emergency medical evacuation from | | | | buying should be rated to carry at least 650 lbs. in |
| remote locations, police search and rescue operations, | | | | the cargo bed of the unit. We get to this number by |
| crowd control, SARS urban interface just to name a | | | | adding the weight of the base skid unit (usually 150 |
| few. | | | | lbs. or less) by the average weight of an attendant, |
| As President and owner of one of the leading | | | | patient, trauma bag, O2 bag and bottle and other |
| manufacturers of medical and fire skid units built | | | | necessary items. There are UTV's out there that are |
| specifically for these specialized vehicles, I get calls | | | | rated to only carry 400 lbs. in the cargo bed, which is |
| daily from chief officers and administrators from | | | | way below the 650 lbs. mentioned above. If it is a |
| across the country inquiring about the suitability of | | | | wild land firefighting skid with water and gear that |
| one type of make model UTV over another. The | | | | you are interested in, that number can jump to 900 |
| ones that haven't purchased a UTV yet are in luck. It | | | | lbs. and above for a required rated cargo capacity. |
| is the organization that has already purchased a UTV | | | | When doing your due diligence and getting |
| with the mistaken notion that the particular make | | | | specifications, the web sites of all the manufactures |
| model they purchased will be adequate for the needs | | | | mentioned above is a great starting place. For |
| of the emergency services they lead who are | | | | instance, the Polaris 6x6 Ranger has an overall rated |
| sometimes in trouble. | | | | vehicle payload capacity of 1750 lbs. with a rated |
| There are many UTV makes and models to choose | | | | cargo bed capacity of 1250 lbs. The Kubota RTV 900 |
| from on the market today. Some are much better | | | | has similar ratings at an overall payload capacity of |
| suited for emergency services work than others. | | | | 1653 lbs. and 1102-lbs. cargo bed capacity. The Polaris |
| Some UTV's have no business being utilized by these | | | | Ranger 4x4 has a vehicle payload capacity of 1500 |
| organizations at all for emergency services work. The | | | | lbs. and a cargo bed rated capacity of 1000 lbs. As |
| Polaris Ranger 6x6 and 4x4, Kubota RTV 900, | | | | you can see, the relationship between the make and |
| Kawasaki Mule 3010, John Deere Gator 6x6 and 4x4, | | | | models specifications and rated capacities soon helps |
| Cub Cadet big country, the Buffalo 6x6 and the Argo | | | | you narrow your search for the right UTV for the |
| amphibious are all units that are very popular and | | | | mission you expect it to undertake. Most UTV skid |
| seem to be the best suited for emergency services | | | | manufactures are starting to standardize the size of |
| work. There are many other makes and models that | | | | the skid units. The cargo bed of the UTV should be |
| deserve tighter scrutiny to insure they will be useful | | | | at least 49" wide and 54" long. UTV units with smaller |
| for the mission they will be expected to fulfill. | | | | sized beds will potentially restrict you as to how |
| Emergency services organizations need to put just as | | | | many skid units you have to choose from and could |
| much time, effort, thought and due diligence into the | | | | drive the price up substantially if a customized skid |
| purchase of their UTV as they would for their next | | | | unit needs to be built to fit your particular UTV. |
| ambulance or fire truck. First, we need to outline | | | | Remember, as a chief officer of an emergency |
| mission objectives, types of typography/geography | | | | services organization, you do not want to be put in |
| in the main response area (hilly, steep versus | | | | the unenviable position of having to answer tough |
| swampy, moist environments) and ultimately the | | | | questions by a high priced litigation attorney seeing |
| primary mission of the UTV in the organization, | | | | your organization because you placed the wrong |
| medical transport, wild land firefighting or a | | | | UTV into the wrong mission area resulting in an |
| combination of the two. Once these questions have | | | | accident. We must give these vehicles the same |
| been answered, then the organization can look at the | | | | respect and due diligence when deciding which unit to |
| specifications of the different type UTV models | | | | purchase as we do when we buy the larger vehicles. |
| available that best meet the mission objectives. | | | | These vehicles can harm our personnel and our |
| Second, safety must always be high on the list. Most | | | | patients just like if we have an accident with the |
| UTV's provide seat belts but make sure the UTV | | | | larger units. It is imperative that we do everything to |
| model you are interested in comes equipped with | | | | prevent an accident by purchasing the right UTV for |
| them (and then write proper SOG's or SOP's to | | | | the mission. |
| insure your organization follows the seat belts always | | | | In closing, the point of this article is to get you to |
| rule) as well as having ROPS (roll over protection | | | | consider your options of makes/models of UTV's |
| structure) which is essentially a roll cage that protects | | | | very closely before you make the final purchase. I |
| the occupants of the seated areas in the UTV. Third, | | | | also want to say that I am not a fan of the use of |
| is the overall weight carrying capacity of the entire | | | | ATV's in use by emergency services. I bought one |
| unit but more specific the carrying capacity of the | | | | for my small rural department but soon felt that the |
| cargo bed is of utmost importance. This is where | | | | unit did not provide enough safety protection for my |
| many departments get tripped up. They go out and | | | | firefighters/EMT's. First you ride up on an ATV like on |
| purchase a unit that cannot meet industry-carrying | | | | a motorcycle instead of inside a UTV like a car. |
| requirements of these skid units but find out too late. | | | | Second, there are no seat belts on ATV's where |
| When considering the purchase of a UTV, I am | | | | there is almost always seat belts on UTV's, and finally |
| certain that true 4x4 or 6x6 drive train capability is a | | | | the ATV can be very unstable in many conditions. |
| must for your organization. Again, check the make | | | | ATV's should serve limited mission roles in emergency |
| model specifications carefully. Some claim to be 6x6 | | | | services organizations. Remember that cheaper in |
| (which they are, almost) but looking closer you will | | | | terms of cost is not always best when it comes to |
| find that only 4 of the 6 wheels on the vehicle are | | | | our national motto for firefighters "Everyone comes |
| really true drive wheels. The other two wheels are | | | | home". |
| just freewheeling. Test drive the units while looking | | | | |