Posted on: Sunday, August 11, 2002
Eight injured in separate head-on crashes near Makaha, Kahana Bay
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
A woman was in critical condition and a man and boy were also injured yesterday after two cars collided on Farrington Highway near 'Ohikilolo Beach.
Later last night, five people were injured in another collision on the Windward side.
The cars on Farrington — a Honda Civic and a van — appeared to have collided head-on, or nearly so, said Capt. Richard Soo, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department. The van was headed toward Ho-nolulu and the Honda was traveling in the opposite direction, toward Ka'ena.
After the collision, the Honda burst into flames. Motorists and bystanders rushed to pull the driver out of harm's way. The van's occupants — a man and a woman — could not be pulled out of their vehicle, so the people at the scene used ropes to pull the burning Honda away from it so the fire wouldn't spread.
Firefighters arrived at 83-503 Farrington Highway, just Ka'ena side of Makaha, shortly after 4 p.m. and got the van occupants out, Soo said.
Emergency Medical Service paramedics then took over care of the injured — a 16-year-old boy, a woman in her 50s, and a 49-year-old man, according to Robert Pedro, an EMS supervisor.
The boy was alert, but he had head, chest, abdominal, pelvic and leg injuries, Pedro said.
The woman was unconscious and unable to breathe on her own. She had head, chest and abdominal injuries and no blood pressure.
The man had a strong vital signs but also had chest, abdominal and leg injuries.
All three patients were taken to the trauma center at The Queen's Medical Center by military helicopter, Pedro said. While in transit, the woman was listed in critical condition and the man and boy in serious condition.
A supervisor at Queen's said the man's condition was upgraded to guarded. The woman remained in critical condition. No update on the boy was available.
The second wreck, which involved a car and a truck, occurred near Kahana Bay shortly after 8 p.m. and also appeared to be a head-on collision, authorities said.
Two of the five injured people, a 10-year-old girl who was a passenger in the truck and a 31-year-old man who was driving the car, were seriously injured, said EMS supervisor Pedro. They were flown to Queen's by military helicopter. The girl appeared to have suffered chest and abdominal injuries and the man was thought to have a head injury. A nursing supervisor at Queen's said the condition of the 31-year-old man had been upgraded from serious to guarded.
The wreck was at 51-785 Kamehameha Highway, just south of the Kahana Bay boat ramps, and involved a truck headed toward Kahuku and a car headed toward Kane'ohe, said Fire Capt. Soo.
The truck was driven by a 19-year-old man who complained of leg pain. In addition to the 10-year-old, his passengers included a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old woman, authorities said.
The woman and girl complained of neck pain. Pedro said they were taken by ambulance to Queen's.
Soo and Pedro said firefighters and paramedics remained at the scene of the Windward accident last night after one of the bystanders suffered what appeared to be a stroke.
No information was available last night on the condition of the stroke victim.
