MARION — Thanks to a donation of a utility terrain vehicle from the Marion EMT Association, the Marion Fire Department can help keep the town’s wood areas and rural trails safe. 

The 2023 Polaris Ranger UTV will assist first responders in finding and reaching people who are injured  in locations where ambulances are unable to travel. The UTV will also be used to transport patients from those scenes.

The donation also included a medical skid unit to attach to the rear of the UTV, a Stokes litter rescue basket and other accessories needed to care for a patient. In total, the equipment donation was worth over $32,000.

Since receiving the equipment, Marion Fire and EMS members have received online and in-person training for operating the vehicle.

“Any time the department receives a donation like this, we are incredibly grateful,” said Jackvony. “We’ve always had a great working relationship with the Marion EMT Association, and this is further evidence of that.”

The Marion EMT Association was established in 1980 with funds bequeathed to the town’s ambulance operations by a late Marion resident. The purpose of the charity was to help improve the pre-hospital care of Marion residents using funds that were not available through the town budget.

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit has purchased dozens of pieces of equipment in the past four decades to assist Marion ambulance crews in their on-scene treatment of patients. Donated equipment has included heart monitors, defibrillators, stretchers, radios and stair-chairs.

“An increasing number of calls involve off-road searches and rescues,” Jackvony said. “The UTV allows us to improve our response to those calls. Our goal always is to reach patients as quickly as possible, which is often critical in these situations, and the UTV means we’ll be able to get to the scene and begin treating the patient sooner."