Star Valley Health EMS Director Bud Clark says it is looking to build a back country ambulance and enhance transporting capabilities.

He says they work with Search and Rescue, and they do a great job with the snowmobiles it currently has.

“It’s a bumpy, rough ride coming out no matter how you do it.” Clark said.

He says they are looking to build a UTV that will be completely enclosed with a heated environment inside the vehicle.

“We have better access to the patient with a UTV,” Clarks said. He says it will also be tracked, which means it can go into the back country in the wintertime. It will be on wheels in the summertime.

“We’ll carry the paramedic sitting right next to that patient with this UTV,” Clark said.

He says he looked at the numbers and there have been 44 back country calls this year. He says this means these are cases where the ambulance cannot get to the person in need of help. He also says a lot of purchases have been made on gear. These are things like survival equipment and other specialty equipment. This is because you never know what you may be in for with a backcountry response according to the EMS director.

“We’ve had two calls where we’ve spent the night out overnight,” Clark said. “Where my paramedic and one of the search and rescue technicians, we’ve gone up there and didn’t get out until 9 or 10 o’clock the next morning.”

He understands one of the great parts of living in Star Valley is the back country areas. So, he believes addressing the needs of search and rescue efforts is important. He says all of this will also include continual training.