Air ambulance gains support

Funding for upgraded emergency medical services still needed

The Maui News
Wednesday, Febuary 5, 2003

By EDWIN TANJI
Staff Writer

HONOLULU -- A state Senate committee has moved out two bills aimed at upgrading emergency medical services in Maui County, including re-establishing a helicopter air ambulance to reach patients in remote areas of the county.

But legislators will still need to find some way of funding the services, Maui Sen. Roz Baker, D-5th District (West Maui-South Maui), said Tuesday. She said she hoped Maui County would be able to assist the state in putting together the resources needed to subsidize an air ambulance that could serve all of the islands of the county.

"My understanding of the mayor's position and one of the council members with whom I was able to talk on the issue, is that they're willing to discuss it," Baker said. "I'm convinced that if the county comes to the table to help us get it started, and can help in looking for a sustained revenue source, we've got a fighting chance to get this going.

"It's expensive. But how do you put a cost on somebody's life?" she said. Mayor Alan Arakawa said he is urging the state contract for a helicopter air ambulance as "an essential service for the County of Maui." He said he knows there is a concern over funding for the service, but it should be possible to set up private-public partnerships to make the service financially feasible.

He said there is broad support from a range of interested organizations including the Hawaii Air Ambulance, which operates a fixed-wing air ambulance for transferring patients to Oahu, as well as from Gov. Linda Lingle.

In testimony to the Senate Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations, chaired by Baker, Arakawa said a twin-engine helicopter ambulance "will create the critical medical link for the rapid transport of severely ill or injured to the Maui Memorial Medical Center or Honolulu hospitals."

He pointed out that Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only full-service acute-care hospital in the county. A helicopter ambulance is vital to getting patients from remote areas including Molokai and Lanai, as well as from West Maui where highway traffic can turn an ambulance trip into a 45-minute-long ride, he said.

Sen. Shan Tsutsui, the freshman legislator representing Wailuku-Kahului, said Maui lawmakers have had to persuade their Oahu counterparts who questioned why the state needs to support the service.

"Some would point to the responsibility of the county, but it's a state function," Tsutsui said. "It's a state hospital serving the public and we're talking about the state Department of Health.

"We had to explain it's not like living on Oahu. It's different living in Hana and on Molokai, but the residents of the remote areas don't deserve second-rate medical services."

Sen. J. Kalani English, who is not on the committee but who represents the outlying areas of East Maui, Molokai and Lanai, said there is some misunderstanding among legislators from Oahu, where military helicopter medevac services are available.

"The military provides these essential services to Honolulu but does not provide the same services to the other counties," he said. "So we need to find some way of providing these services that can save lives."

He said the state should ask whether the federal government could assist in expanding the medevac service that is now provided where there are military bases.

English introduced several of the bills seeking to upgrade emergency services for outlying areas of the county, saying the state has a responsibility to provide a system to transport critically ill or injured patients "to receive appropriate medical care."

Baker said another bill moved out by her committee would expand ambulance services in Kula and Kihei. With statistics on the number of calls received as well as the response times, she said Maui legislators have evidence to justify expanded hours in Kula as well as an additional ambulance in Kihei-Wailea.

But, as with the air ambulance, it will all come down to finding the funds, she said. It might be possible to set up "something we can afford," she said.

"Sen. (Suzanne) Chun Oakland raised the possibility of setting up some kind of dedicated and sustainable fund for all of the emergency medical services," Baker said. It could include a special fund based on a surcharge on vehicle registrations, she said.

"Funding is not part of the bill we passed today but we committed that we would explore a funding mechanism and partnerships in getting this done," Baker said.

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