Departmental Air Rescue Team, "The people who rescue our equine friends"

Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department receive hands on instruction from the DART Team on rigging a horse for air rescue.

Van Nuys--Ever wonder who it is that rescues our equine friends when there's no way to reach them or save them except by air rescue? You'll hardly ever see an interview on the six o'clock news, because they're the team down the side of a canyon putting their hearts into saving the horse. It has been rumored on occasion that even the 911 operators may not know whom to call. They're called the Departmental Air Rescue Team (DART) from Los Angeles Animal Services.

DART is on call 24-hours a day, 7-days a week for rescue operations and can be reached through the East Valley Animal Shelter at (818) 756-9323. DART is used by Fire and Police Departments statewide to conduct animal rescue operations. As long as the operation is cleared through the Mayor’s Office, the team is on call to go anywhere in the country. The furthest rescue conducted was in Santa Barbara and members of the team have been requested to assist in disaster teams on the East Coast.

The team was founded in 1997 following a review of past horse rescues with the conclusion the department needed to address both a more adequate response and the technology to accomplish equine rescues. The Fire Department had undertaken some rescues with the use of makeshift slings and cargo nets. An equine rescue takes more than just a helicopter. It a combination of the right equipment, trained animal control officers familiar with horses and their behavior, and a trained team that can take coordinated effort in conditions often less than ideal. The initial credit should be given to Fred Michaels, the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, who lobbied for the equipment.

The DART team is based out of the East Valley Shelter because of its close proximity to the Van Nuys and Whitman Airports, which improves response time to the scene of a rescue when air transport is necessary. Members of the team are spread throughout the City of Los Angeles. Team members from the East Valley Shelter are DART Team Leader, Hugh Briefman, Animal Control Officer II (ACOII); Jan Selder, ACOII Acting Lt.; and Sergio Rios, Animal Care Tech Supervisor (ACTS). From the North Central Shelter are Julie Bastian, ACOII Permits Officer; and Cindy Easley, ACOII. The other team members are Eric Gardner, ACOII Special Enforcement Unit; William Tranzow, ACOII (SEU); and Tim Goffa, Captain, Special Ops Coordinator.

When DART was first formed, it was a unique effort that took advantage of specially designed equipment for air lifting horses. According to Hugh Briefman, DART Team Leader, “When our team started, we were very unique, being a government agency and in a progressive city like Los Angeles gave us an advantage over smaller municipalities. We have virtually an unlimited access to the use of city and/or county airships. We have a good understanding with other departments. Although we are no longer alone in what we do, we have had more experience then any one else and have assisted many other agencies with training their personnel.”

According to Team Leader Hugh Briefman, the team averages 3-5 rescues per year. To see more photographs of the special rig and the training session with the Los Angeles Fire Department lead by the DART Team, please look on-line for the www.vhoa.org/photogallery.

The first response to an equine rescue comes with a call to the East Valley Animal Services either through 911 or by a direct call to the 24/7 phone line (818) 756-9323. The DART Team contacts a veterinarian to be on hand at the site of the rescue as they mobilize. Members of the team respond from their animal shelters throughout the city either by ground or air depending on the time of day, distance, and/or rush hour conditions.

First on the rescue site is normally either the Los Angeles Fire Department or Police Department. The Fire Department is responsible for securing the site and makes the call when the team can go in to safely conduct the rescue. Of course, if a rider is injured, emergency personnel have responded to the scene and attend to the rider immediately.

The veterinarian is called on to sedate the horse and the team immediately works to quiet the horse and attach the harness. The harness goes completely around the horse down the whole length of the horse’s body. Front and rear portions of the harness are attached which gives the hardness a complete circumference of the horse. A head piece and eye shield completes the top part of the harness.

While the team works in a coordinated effort to attach and secure the harness, a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter is on instant call out of the sight and hearing of the horse. As the team prepares to attach the last piece of the unit, a rigging that attaches to the harness and then to the helicopter, the veterinarian administers a tranquilizer that puts the horse completely under. This is all timed so that the tranquilizer takes full effect as the team attaches the last piece and the helicopter flies in for the airlift. In a 2 to 3 minute time span, the tranquilizer is administered, final rigging attached, and the helicopter comes in overhead to make the attachment.

The tranquilizer given is just enough to keep the horse under for 10-15 minutes. This is the time from the helicopter first coming onto the scene, attaches, lifts the horse to safety, sets the horse down, and the team removes the rigging. This time element may vary considerably due to the horse’s weight, age and other conditions.

Hopefully, the horse has not sustained any life threatening injuries, but the veterinarian is on-hand to see to the horse’s injury and condition.

Not all the rescues that the DART team performs are spectacular air rescues from canyons, crevasses and cliffs. The team is called on for other types of equine and livestock rescues. These have included: a horse that went through the top of an old septic tank; horses that have gotten stuck under pipe corrals or taken bad falls in positions they can not get up from; and, there was even the case of the 800 pound pig that no one else seemed to know how to handle.

VHOA wants to thank Hugh Briefman and the DART team for the opportunity to see their training session with the Los Angeles Fire Department and to attend their live training exercise. Please post this very important phone number to reach the DART team in case of a need, (818) 756-9323.

Photos courtesy of Carol and Steve Ford Departmental Air Rescue Team: DART in a training exercise with the Los Angeles Fire Department May 2004. DART is comprised of LA Animal Control Officers trained for emergency rescue operations using helicopters and special equipment.