Posted on: Saturday, May 7, 2005
Emergency trailers added to city's fleet
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
Officials from the city and the Pearlridge Center yesterday unveiled two shiny new pieces of emergency equipment that everyone hopes won't have to be used, but which are available in case of a bioterrorism attack or a "mass casualty" disaster.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser When fully outfitted, the ambulance will have cost about $170,000, city officials said.
The two emergency response trailers were bought with proceeds donated to the city from the operation of the "Skycab" monorail at Pearlridge Center.
Scott Creel, Pearlridge marketing director, said the money for the two trailers is part of the $350,000 donated to the city since the 9/11 terrorism attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and elsewhere.
"We asked the (city emergency services) departments what they wanted and then we got it for them," Creel said.
The larger of the two trailers is 42 feet long and can be used as a vaccination center, medication distribution center, incident command center, education center and more.
The smaller, 34-foot trailer can be stocked with emergency medical supplies to resupply city ambulances at a disaster site, allowing the ambulances to spend more time carrying patients instead of returning to their base stations to restock supplies.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann used the blessing to proclaim the city's participation in National Emergency Medical Services week, which is May 15-21.
Hannemann also recognized city Emergency Medical Services Chief Patricia J. Dukes as the first female chief of a major metropolitan emergency medical service nationwide. Dukes has worked for the city since 1984, when she became certified as a mobile intensive care technician.
Last year, the city's Emergency Medical Services Division responded to more than 66,000 calls for help. Demand for service is growing by about 6,000 calls a year, officials said.
The two new trailers, purchased with nearly $136,000 in donated money from the Pearlridge Center, were put on display during a 9:45 a.m. blessing ceremony at City Hall, along with a new city ambulance, bought with a state grant, that will be used by the city's Makiki Emergency Medical Services unit.
Kahu Kordell Kekoa blesses a "bioterrorism response trailer," one of two emergency medical services trailers donated to the city by Pearlridge Center. The unit was designed primarily to provide on-location vaccinations.
