PATTERSON – When seconds count for horses in need of life-saving assistance, the highly trained Patterson Fire Department Horse Rescue Unit springs into action.
Team Commander Joey Nickischer, himself a veteran of numerous horse rescues with both the Patterson Fire Department and Westchester County Technical Rescue Team, said, “It takes the combined skills, equipment and experience of all the fire-rescue personnel to have a positive outcome.”
Since 2016, members of the Horse Rescue Unit of the Patterson Fire Department have helped to save the lives of some 18 horses.
Over the holiday weekend, the team was called to Cushman Road to rescue a horse in distress.
Hudson, a 34-year-old horse, had fallen and was unable to get back on its feet.
Firefighters from Patterson and Putnam Lake responded and realizing the difficulty of horse rescues from working dozen previous incidents over the years, Assistant Chief Andrew Rossi summoned the Putnam Technical Rescue Team.
Members of the team placed heavy duty slings beneath the horse which allowed Hudson to stand with the assistance of its rescuers.
The team’s heroics are nationally recognized.
Last year Nickischer, a former Patterson chief, was selected to teach a “horse rescue” class in New Mexico tabbed Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue.
Nickischer called it an honor to work with fire departments, emergency managers, livestock board members, brand inspectors, industry professionals and even the National Guard.
“With all the calls the Patterson Fire Department has gotten for horse rescues over the years, and the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue training/standards being implemented by New York State, we need to make sure our firefighters are well trained and prepared to safely respond to these types of incidents,” Nickischer said. “Being an instructor and working with some of the best trained rescuers in the world allowed me to bring this experience back to our community.”
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