HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu is facing a serious shortage of ambulances driven by a combination of increased emergency calls and staffing issues.
Multiple major trauma cases like the triple fatal in Waianae in early September only highlighted the strain on EMS, which saw a shortage of ambulances that weekend.
“It’s stressful for crews who are woking so hard to actually have to run more calls because we have a few closures that just puts the burden on everyone else, so I can’t compliment our team enough,” said Honolulu EMS Department Director Dr. Jim Ireland.
Every day, EMS aims to have 21 ambulances on the road. Closing units is the last resort when the department is short-staffed.
EMS said it adjusts schedules to overlap shifts to make sure ambulances have at least two people in a rig. They concentrate on adding ambulances to the areas where it is the busiest, which includes Downtown Honolulu.
The department has reciprocal contracts with the private ambulance company AMR and the federal fire department that provide backup when they are short on ambulances and they are actively recruiting.
Seventeen recruits are preparing for their final teams this week to hopefully fill the 26 current EMS vacancies when they graduate in November.
“It’s absolutely stressful. You’re completely right, but it is just so rewarding to be able to help people in such a frontline manner,” said Nikolas Stiavetti-Gaudio, EMS recruit.
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“Regardless of the staffing shortage, I just believe that we want to be able to put out competent and quality EMTs on the road. It’s really important because it’s somebody’s family member that we’re dealing with,” EMS recruit Kamalani Tabbal added.