Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
HONOLULU
10 paramedics join EMS staff
Ten paramedics have passed their state licensing exam and are on staff with Emergency Medical Services as fully certified paramedics, said Jason Kaneshiro, an EMS district chief.
Kaneshiro said the number of paramedics added to the staff is unusually large.
Last year, only four paramedics completed training, which includes 1,300 classroom hours and 300 ambulance runs made alongside a certified paramedic, plus the state exam.
"This is a large group," Kaneshiro said of the 2003 class. "But any number helps. We need as many paramedics as we can get."
According to Kaneshiro, the washout rate in paramedic training is high, often running 50 percent.
Of the most recent class, Kaneshiro said, only two did not make it.
The graduates of the paramedic class of 2003 are: Marc Moriguchi, Sonya Austin, Jonathan Hong, Keith Imada, Doreen Kitagawa, Dean Mizukami, Aaron Pitt, Brandon Shimamura, Ryan Umeno and Ronald Wolf II.
VA musicians' concert tonight
The orchestra of the Veterans Affairs-National Medical Musical Group will salute veterans with a free concert tonight at St. Andrew's Cathedral.
Miss America 2001 Angela Perez Baraquio and a number of Honolulu musical ensembles will also participate.
The concert theme is "Thunder on Plymouth Rock," according to organizers at the Spark M. Matsunaga Medical Center, a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. The VA-National Medical Musical Group comprises doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.
WINDWARD
Kawainui crews to clear views
Volunteers will clear the view plane for Kawainui Marsh near Mokapu Boulevard from 7:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 22 beginning at the triangle park across from the model airplane field.
Some 50 volunteers are needed, including 12 who can handle a chainsaw. The group will be broken into two teams; one will clean Kapa'a Quarry Road from the model airplane field to Mokapu.
People also are needed to register volunteers, deliver snacks and water, and set up for free lunch.
To volunteer or for more information, call Shannon or Jim Wood at 263-6001 or 791-0517.
