Posted at 1:38 p.m., Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Ambulances on extra duty in Christmas Eve
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two additional ambulances will be available tonight, bringing the island total to 18, and the Makakilo ambulance crew will switch to a 24-hour shift, said Donnie Gates, assistant chief for the city’s Emergency Medical Services.
The beefed-up staffing is because the number of calls for holiday help has grown over the years and it was especially busy this fall, Gates said.
"We’ve been watching the past holidays such as Thanksgiving and even Halloween and we were really busy," he said. "We had a lot more activity than we normally do."
Gates couldn’t point to specific numbers or types of cases, but said the volume of calls for an ambulance will definitely increase.
"It’s not a lot of serious stuff," he said. "It is a lot of stuff that just needs an ambulance."
A similar plan will be in place for New Year’s Eve, he said.
The Honolulu Fire Department does not plan to add extra staff for Christmas Eve.
"For the most part, we expect a normal working day," said Capt. Emmit Kane, a department spokesman. "Historically, we haven’t had anything that indicates anything different than any other day."
