Bill Text: HI HB2529 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Emergency Medical Services; North Kona; Appropriation ($)
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-10 - The committee(s) on HLT recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HB2529 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-HB2529-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2529 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that response times for emergency medical services significantly impact the overall time it takes to transport patients to the emergency room to receive treatment. The National Fire Protection Association, which creates standards for fire services, and has determined that emergency medical services medic unit crews must respond to scenes of emergency within eight minutes. According to the association's publication, NFPA 1710: Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations, "this requirement is based on experience, expert consensus and science. Many studies note the role of time and the delivery of early defibrillation in patient survival due to heart attacks and cardiac arrest which are the most time-critical, resource-intensive medical emergency events to which fire departments respond." Trauma cases are also very time-sensitive, and the ability of emergency medical services crews to rapidly transport patients to medical facilities for treatment often makes the difference between life and death.
The legislature further finds that on the island of Hawaii, North Kona's new Makalei fire station fills a firefighting gap on highway 190 between the Kailua fire station and the Waikoloa fire station. The Makalei station has a fire engine, is home to a hazardous materials response unit, and serves a community of approximately forty-five thousand residents in one of the fastest-growing districts in the State. Current emergency medical services responses to North Kona, however, come from the medic seven unit based at the Kailua fire station, the medic twelve unit based at the Keauhou fire station, and the medic sixteen unit based at the Waikoloa fire station. These facilities are located eight, fifteen, and twenty miles from North Kona, respectively. Medics seven and twelve account for seventeen per cent of the emergency medical services calls on the island, and in the best circumstances will respond to North Kona in eight to fifteen minutes. If neither of these units are available, North Kona must rely upon medic sixteen, which usually takes twenty-five to thirty minutes to respond. Further, the approximate transport time from North Kona to Kona community hospital is twenty to thirty minutes.
The legislature further finds that given the current availability of emergency medical services in North Kona, patients who need those services and time-sensitive definitive treatment are at risk of losing their health or their lives.
The purpose of this Act is to provide funding for the operation of emergency medical services for North Kona.
SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the operation of emergency medical services for North Kona.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the county of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2016.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Emergency Medical Services; North Kona; Appropriation
Description:
Appropriates funds for emergency medical services for North Kona.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
