Based in Northeastern Massachusetts, Patriot Equine Technical Rescue provides and utilizes specialized training and equipment to assist veterinarians and public safety officials with the technical rescue of horses in distress due to entrapment, illness or injury.
What We Do
Patriot Equine Technical Rescue is a registered 501(c)(3) non profit which provides and utilizes specialized training and equipment to assist veterinarians and public safety officials with the technical rescue of horses in distress due to entrapment, illness or injury.
There is no charge for our services, but donations are encouraged and gratefully accepted!
Availability and response times may vary and unfortunately cannot be guaranteed.
A Veterinarian must be present or responding.
Our equipment cache is extensive and training meets the Operations Level guidelines established in NFPA 1670 Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue, Chapter 17 and Annex K, Animal Technical Rescue.
While municipal first responders will make heroic efforts to assist horses in distress in a variety of situations, they often lack the training specific to equine technical rescue and usually do not have the proper equipment required to do so safely – for both the horse and the rescuers. In these scenarios, injury to the horse from using improvised equipment or improper techniques is quite common. Our equipment and training, even if it takes a little time to get it to the scene, can mean all the difference in keeping rescuers safe and in providing the horse (or other large animal!) with every opportunity for a successful outcome. Because our equipment is purpose designed, it also accomplishes the job MUCH faster than other lay-methods which means horses, fragile and subject to potentially deadly medical complications from prolonged recumbency or entrapments, usually fare better during and after the their rescue.
Patriot Equine Technical rescue can also, on occasion, compassionately move deceased equines, using the same techniques and equipment, for burial purposes or transport to a local large animal crematorium. A donation is required for these services, please contact us for more information.
Our Equipment
- Complete Rescue Glide for packaging and moving recumbent horses including those down in stalls
- Air supply jetting wands (4) and strap guide for mud / unstable ground entrapment
- Becker Slings for vertical lifts (2)
- Vertical Lift Hobbles
- Anesthesia Hoods
- An extensive cache of purpose designed large animal rescue and manipulation equipment
- A portable tripod Rescue Frame for vertical lifts – the only one like it north of Virginia!
Who We Are
Katherine Dwyer, EMT-P
President, Treasurer & Team Leader
Kate is our primary responder. She has been a devoted horse owner for many years and has competed in various sporthorse disciplines.
Kate’s extensive training in the principles and techniques of equine technical rescue combines with her twenty-six years of experience as a career Paramedic in a busy municipal 911 system to form a solid foundation for our organization’s services, operations and mission. Kate routinely works alongside other first responders at critical incidents and regularly operates within the incident command system, a necessity at any equine technical rescue incident.
Kate took her first equine safety and rescue class with the field’s most experienced rescuer – Mr. Roger Lauze, the MSPCA’s longtime Equine Safety and Rescue Training Coordinator – in 2007, and has progressed from eager student to his assistant, instructing at larger equine rescue classes for first responders, Veterinarians and regional DART Teams. She was a volunteer with the MSPCA Sporthorse Ambulance Program and staffed it’s equine ambulances at The Dutta Corp Fair Hill International Fall Championships, Jersey Fresh International, The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, The Pedigree Bromont International Three Day Event (CAN) and the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC.
Kate has been a registered and deployable member of the State of Massachusetts Animal Response Team (SMART) since 2007 and has completed all required training for the Large Animal Search and Rescue Team. In 2011, Kate was invited to facilitate a break-out group for Incident Command System training at the SMART Annual Summit.
Kate has also completed FEMA USAR Medical Specialist training, and is a deployable Metropolitan Boston Homeland Security Urban Search and Rescue Medic.
Sara Dwyer, Secretary
While Sara has been known to profess that horses “are a cross between Jurassic Park and a hamster cage”, she is not unfamiliar with a saddle or barn chores! As Secretary, she carries a lot of official responsibilities and has contributed to and supported all the administrative logistics of our incorporation and its maintenance. Despite the long hours she keeps working for a non-profit healthcare organization, Sara is a master of organization and keeps on top of what we have due when and ensures that it gets done right!
Tracey Mini, Director
Tracey sat on a horse for the first time at 5 years old and was a confirmed barn rat by age 7, working off lessons at a newly opened large public stable. As a teenager, she was a traveling lower level event groom and did some competing herself.
With 29 years of professional experience in a utility industry where she has an extensive background and training in employee safety, Tracey has completed the MSPCA equine rescue course and multiple Patriot Equine Technical Rescue training classes. She has assisted on calls and at a number of our trainings for horse owner groups and has a keen eye for improving our classes and programs.
Jennifer Gottfredson, Director
Jenny has watched Patriot Equine Technical Rescue grow from a newly formed idea to a physical reality, and has supported the organization along every step of that journey; in addition, she has completed a Patriot Equine Technical Rescue training class alongside a number of our local equine veterinarians and their technicians.
Jenny has been a horsewoman all her life, including selflessly opening her barn to serve as a quarantine facility for equines rescued by a nonprofit from the auction pipelines. Every single one found peace and comfort and blossomed in Jenny’s loving care!
Testimonials
“I told them I would have had to euthanize the horse without you.” – DC
” … thank you so much for your calm, professional work on what was a very difficult day for me.” – C.J.
” … your actions were extremely professional. I hope this equipment rescues many other horses in the future.” – M.A.
” Can’t thank you enough !!!” _ N.B.
978-578-7741 