Windham Fire Rescue’s Deputy Chief of Emergency Medical Services loses cancer battle

By Ed Pierce

The Town of Windham has lost one of its most experienced, well-liked and respected public safety officials.

Windham Fire Rescue Deputy Chief John
Kooistra has lost his battle against cancer
and died Monday, Jan. 5 at the age of 56.
FILE PHOTO

Windham Fire-Rescue Chief Brent Libby said that Deputy Chief John Kooistra lost his battle against cancer on Monday and has died at the age of 56.

He has served as Windham’s Deputy Chief of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Department Training since February 2019 and was the recipient in 2022 of the Maine EMS Lifetime Achievement Award for notable contributions to the Maine EMS system in their service to the residents and visitors of Maine.

“As a paramedic/firefighter and educator, Deputy Chief Kooistra’s time here has been dedicated to our members and community; ensuring quality, compassionate and modern emergency medical care as well as relevant, fact-based, skill-proficient training and education,” Libby said. “Through his more than 32 years in public safety he has cared for our colleagues, families, and neighbors in Windham, Portland, Westbrook, Wells and United Ambulance. He has taught hundreds of EMS Clinicians, law enforcement, firefighters, and so many others in public safety and health care around the world in trauma and operational K9 care. His impact will be felt for years to come. His genuine concern and care, as well as his quick-witted humor, will always be remembered.”

Kooistra was originally from California but grew up splitting his time between Maine and New York City where his parents each lived. He attended Saint Joseph’s College briefly for pre-med, yet having already worked in emergency medical services, he transferred to Kennebec Valley Community College and became a paramedic.

Since then, he’s worked for several departments and entities over the years in a part-time capacity, but his full-time career prior to his duties with Windham Fire-Rescue came with the City of Portland’s Medical Crisis Unit (MedCU) and the Portland Fire Department where he served for 25 years.

While working for Windham Fire Rescue much of what he did was administrative in nature, but he still responded to calls, cared directly for patients, and created and provided progressive training for the members of a growing department.

During an interview in 2024 with The Windham Eagle, Kooistra said that every day in his job was different and every call for help was different, making his work challenging.

“We frequently deal with people struggling with mental health issues. I say ‘now’ although it’s been an increasing issue for EMS and law enforcement for several years, but I was never taught in medic school how to deal with that,” Kooistra said. “Sometimes we’re called to help someone that needs help but doesn’t want it. That’s hard. People are allowed to make decisions that you or I wouldn’t necessarily agree with, if we deem them to have decision-making ability and explain to a family member why we’re not taking their loved one to the hospital because they’re refusing our treatment and/or transport is almost always a very difficult conversation. Worse than that, however, is when we are called to help someone with a situation and there isn’t a solution for their problem readily available or even at all.”

He described his favorite moment while working for the Windham Fire-Rescue Department in this way:

“I was working with another member, Firefighter/Paramedic Katy Dippolito, to help extricate a deer that had fallen through the ice on Chaffin Pond in the Donnabeth Lippman Park in December 2022,” he said. “We were in Ice Rescue Suits and Helmets and found the deer far out on the ice in an open area of water approximately 20 feet by 20 feet. The open water area had slowly gotten larger as the deer had attempted to get out of the water repeatedly and broke through the ice each time. Due to the cold water and the deer’s exhausted state, it seemed like a reasonably easy rescue, so Katy slid into the water to try and help the deer out of it. Immediately the deer’s fight or flight response kicked in and it tried to escape Katy’s grasp, and the two started to swim repeatedly in circles.”

Kooistra said he stayed on the relative safety of the thicker ice and cheered Katy on until their support team gently pointed out that I was also in an ice rescue suit and that Katy could perhaps use his help.

“Figuring that I could easily reason with a wild animal, I too slid into the water. Things didn’t get better,” he said. “The deer decided that the best defense was a good offense and started going after Katy while blatting loudly. Our shore-based crew suggested putting the deer in a gentle headlock to help to control it while we figured out how to get it back onto the ice. Being familiar with a similar technique to control Police K-9s who require medical aid, I managed to do just that, and the animal suddenly stopped moving. I was then able to control the deer’s legs with my other hand, and Katy and I slowly swam the deer to the edge of the ice. Our initial attempt to roll the deer up and onto the ice resulted in my inadvertently getting between the deer and its flexed legs. It let me know how it felt about the situation by kicking me very solidly in the side of my helmet. We reevaluated our plan. Katy had been connected to a rope that was controlled by our shore team when she first went into the water, so we went to Plan B. Katy rolled up onto the ice, I controlled and lifted the deer onto the ice and, with Katy holding onto the deer, the two were pulled back across the solid ice to the Fire-Department and Warden Team that was waiting on shore. Our ‘patient’ was turned over to the Game Wardens, and we went back to the station to clean up and go back into service.”

A Memorial Service for Deputy Chief Kooistra will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Windham High School Performing Arts Center. <