Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Honolulu Emergency Services Dept. leadership discuss recent Kona Low storms

Transcript

Honolulu Emergency Services Dept. leadership discuss recent Kona Low storms · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:14
  welcome to the one on our podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, And this week we're sitting down with the director
• 0:20
  and deputy director for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department.
• 0:24
  Director Jim Ireland.
• 0:25
  Deputy director Ian Santee, thank you both for making some time for it.
• 0:28
  It's great to be here. Good morning. Good morning.
• 0:30
  Thank you.
• 0:31
  Guys, parts of our island are still in the recovery phase
• 0:34
  from the recent Kono Loa storms.
• 0:36
  Kono lot two was particularly damaging.
• 0:39
  Ian, I guess if we can start with you.
• 0:42
  Where were you that night?
• 0:43
  And if you kind of walk us through your experience.
• 0:45
  Sure.
• 0:46
  So I think the first flash flood warning came in at about 11 p.m.
• 0:50
  that night.
• 0:51
  That night.
• 0:52
  Our team went into the emergency operations center
• 0:55
  about 1:00 in the morning.
• 0:57
  We got a notification. It started getting worse.
• 0:59
  So I left my house. I went to our warehouse.
• 1:02
  You went to.
• 1:03
  You left your house in town. I left my house in zero, about two.
• 1:05
  I drove out to our warehouse out in the Halawa area.
• 1:09
  Met up with our team that went out, and we responded out to the Waialua area.
• 1:13
  One of our ambulances at the time was, being flooded out.
• 1:17
  So I responded up with our team there to check up all of them.
• 1:20
  We by our team, with our high water
• 1:23
  vehicle actually diverted off for us to get some order to.
• 1:26
  We'll talk at camp because there was calls for some high water vehicles
• 1:29
  and a lot of residents that were being stranded out there.
• 1:31
  So we kind of split up.
• 1:32
  They went all there to check on them and meet up
• 1:34
  with the fire department to help perform some water evacuation rescues.
• 1:38
  I proceeded out towards the white lower area, where on the way to Hana will be.
• 1:42
  I'm sorry.
• 1:43
  Waimea Bay is where the ambulance was pretty much overcome by water.
• 1:47
  Our two, our paramedic and an EMT from our white lower ambulance.
• 1:52
  They were responding to a call and they got just the doctor tired.
• 1:56
  And as I said before them, just divine intervention.
• 2:00
  That call got canceled and they went in and this couple came up
• 2:03
  and they said, there's people still trapped in the house.
• 2:05
  The water's coming up.
• 2:06
  They went and got them and they pulled them out,
• 2:08
  and they worked with the police department
• 2:10
  to pull them to shelter until the water receded at that point.
• 2:13
  I got out there.
• 2:14
  The water pretty much was receded, but it was still probably about a foot deep.
• 2:17
  Stayed with them until our high water vehicle got out there
• 2:21
  and we took seven people, put them into our high water vehicle,
• 2:25
  and they transported them over to, Queens Wahiawa for hypothermia.
• 2:30
  Yeah. I met up with them over there.
• 2:32
  We came up with a game plan of what we're going to do.
• 2:35
  Met up with the HPD command post.
• 2:36
  Figured out what else was going on, how else we can help,
• 2:39
  and our team went back out into the Wiluna area.
• 2:43
  I pretty much stayed in that area in the command post area.
• 2:48
  Communicated with our team out there to make sure things were going smoothly.
• 2:51
  When I caught up with him, he was wet from head to toe.
• 2:54
  So I think maybe from the head
• 2:57
  to the shoulders was rain.
• 3:00
  But down below us, it was water.
• 3:03
  It was flood water.
• 3:03
  So I you were you were you were out and about with the crew.
• 3:06
  And, you know, normally I like to try to get out with our crews
• 3:08
  and get out to where the incident happened.
• 3:11
  But that night, it was so dynamic.
• 3:13
  We decided to,
• 3:17
  split up, and,
• 3:18
  I basically just ran, and I did not
• 3:22
  necessarily ran, but monitored our operations actually, from home.
• 3:25
  You know, I set up, we have a computer.
• 3:27
  I was out of the virtual EOC, so I was in the EOC virtually can see
• 3:31
  all the screens that they were seeing. I had our radio.
• 3:34
  I had the nine on one CAD open where I could see all the 901 calls and
• 3:39
  same thing.
• 3:39
  I kind of about ten knew something was brewing, but not concerning.
• 3:44
  And then about midnight it got really concerning.
• 3:46
  And then
• 3:48
  from midnight till about four in the morning, it was,
• 3:50
  you know, it was just, very stressful
• 3:53
  for me personally because I was listening on the radio.
• 3:55
  I was watching on the cad.
• 3:57
  You know what?
• 3:57
  What the cad, meaning the, the 901, board,
• 4:02
  there was like
• 4:02
  30 calls for rescue simultaneously a big one in Makaha,
• 4:07
  a whole bunch, mostly in the, Waialua area.
• 4:11
  A few, I think, in lot. Yeah.
• 4:12
  But that there's just not enough for rescuers to to
• 4:16
  to handle all those at once.
• 4:17
  So they had to prioritize.
• 4:19
  And EMS were not a rescue organization.
• 4:22
  Rescue is the fire department. It's an ocean safety.
• 4:25
  If it's in the ocean, in the daylight hours when they work.
• 4:29
  So, you know, we do have this one high water rescue vehicle.
• 4:31
  It was able to do rescues that night.
• 4:34
  And I can talk about this a little bit later,
• 4:36
  but one thing I've reflected on,
• 4:37
  I think we have as a city after this is, you know, we have other high water
• 4:41
  rescue assets in on Oahu, mostly with the military,
• 4:45
  but those, potentially need to be engaged, beforehand.
• 4:49
  I think we learned that, but ours was out.
• 4:51
  You know, the fire department was out there doing all these rescues.
• 4:53
  But to hear
• 4:54
  especially this rescue of the family with the four young children under seven,
• 4:59
  with the Waialua Ambulance live on the radio
• 5:02
  and just the anticipation, we're going in the house, it's pitch black.
• 5:06
  We're in chest deep water.
• 5:07
  You know, the EMT was I heard she was swimming because she wasn't
• 5:11
  as tall as the officers.
• 5:12
  And, our paramedic.
• 5:14
  So then when, you know, there's a pause and,
• 5:18
  you know, our district chief, Lori Grace, was on that night, she was district four.
• 5:21
  That's our North Shore district.
• 5:22
  She's running the operation live, like, right out in all the,
• 5:27
  you know, all the event and in the action, so to speak.
• 5:31
  Hearing her on the radio,
• 5:32
  hearing the paramedic and we're going in and just that pause.
• 5:37
  And you're.
• 5:37
  I'm at home. He's on his way out there.
• 5:41
  And just the stress of just not being able to help.
• 5:44
  So I'm at home. I want to help.
• 5:46
  They're on their own.
• 5:47
  The fire department's running all these other rescues.
• 5:49
  People on the roof.
• 5:51
  And so that tension in live time
• 5:54
  was, something, you know, I haven't experienced very often.
• 5:57
  And then to hear them say,
• 5:59
  we've got the children, I've got the child in my arms.
• 6:01
  We've we got all four.
• 6:03
  That relief and we're, you know, we're out of the house and we're now,
• 6:07
  you know, making their way to the the higher ground.
• 6:09
  So that was a huge relief.
• 6:11
  At least that one rescue of the 30 that were going on was, was, was in the books.
• 6:15
  It was done and they were safe and but then it wasn't over.
• 6:19
  They were still out there.
• 6:20
  They were hypothermic because they, you know, it's night time.
• 6:23
  They evacuated the house.
• 6:24
  I think the kids were still in their pajamas or, you know, in water.
• 6:28
  So, it wasn't over, but at least they were out of life threatening danger.
• 6:33
  But the night wasn't over.
• 6:34
  The night was still happening, and things were still going on.
• 6:36
  And that was a big rescue in Makaha.
• 6:38
  I think they were campers, I think 70 people.
• 6:41
  So that was a really, busy night.
• 6:45
  All our crews did great that night.
• 6:46
  And all over the island because even though the emergency was up
• 6:49
  there, everybody else shifts and covers and running calls and on alert.
• 6:53
  So our team was just, you know, fantastic that night, as always.
• 6:57
  But they really, made me proud.
• 7:00
  And the other thing, too,
• 7:02
  is I think the mayor's reflected on this, you know, in such a horrendous event,
• 7:06
  we had no loss of life on Oahu for any of the storms.
• 7:10
  And so that's a testament to
• 7:14
  people making good
• 7:16
  decisions, people evacuating first responders,
• 7:19
  and then really to the community responders,
• 7:21
  because we really saw what the Waialua community could do.
• 7:25
  You know, Manoa, Hawaii, Kai, other
• 7:28
  places on the island couldn't have done that because we they
• 7:31
  those aren't areas with agriculture and with big machines and front loaders.
• 7:37
  And I was out there, Friday morning after the storm
• 7:41
  up all night, you know, on posse, on the radio coordinating.
• 7:45
  But then I actually physically went out there
• 7:47
  the next morning,
• 7:48
  and the skaters were still running around, you know, getting through.
• 7:51
  I was out by the Dillingham Airport
• 7:53
  and not passable with regular vehicles and an excavator.
• 7:56
  Went by and I think I made light of it, but it was it was interesting.
• 8:00
  I saw Dylan and a reporter, getting a story,
• 8:04
  but he was in one of the buckets on one of the, excavators going by.
• 8:07
  And so, and those things were all over the place.
• 8:09
  And that's one of the things that I think the city did at one
• 8:11
  point is we went out there with our diesel truck, actually,
• 8:13
  it's an EMS diesel truck to refuel ambulances in emergencies.
• 8:17
  And I believe we provided fuel for those good Samaritan
• 8:20
  first responders amongst the community.
• 8:22
  So it really was community did it a lot.
• 8:25
  All the first responders did a lot.
• 8:26
  Everybody came together.
• 8:28
  But that was, a really incredible night of,
• 8:31
  just, really bad news for people's property.
• 8:34
  But good news that that nobody died.
• 8:36
  And then, of course, the big recovery.
• 8:39
  I want to cling on that, you know,
• 8:40
  I want to get your reaction to the exact same thing.
• 8:42
  The Doctor Ireland's talking about where,
• 8:44
  you know, community kind of came together.
• 8:46
  Neighbor helping, neighbor departments,
• 8:47
  helping departments,
• 8:48
  and also the collaboration between city, state and federal.
• 8:50
  Because I know that you saw that while you were out there that night as well. Yeah.
• 8:53
  You know, I think one of the great things
• 8:55
  that everybody chipped in and everybody worked together,
• 8:58
  everybody, especially our Autocare camp, there was a fire department out there.
• 9:02
  There was the EMS was out there, police was out there.
• 9:05
  The National Guard, the community with all their,
• 9:09
  equipment and some equipment to help get everybody to safety.
• 9:12
  And again, you know, as as Doctor
• 9:14
  Allen said in the mirror, I said, you know, we're very fortunate
• 9:16
  that this is one of the I think in my 28 years been we've been with the city.
• 9:20
  This is one of the biggest disasters for the city, kind of hollow
• 9:22
  that I've been able to witness.
• 9:24
  And, we all work together and there was no loss of life in that.
• 9:27
  And I think, you know, the it's just it's just amazing
• 9:30
  how everybody worked together and the resources were deployed
• 9:33
  out there from all our all, all capable people at that point in time.
• 9:37
  You know, our, our, our high water vehicle throughout the night,
• 9:41
  it's a vehicle that can probably carry 7 or 8 people at a time.
• 9:44
  And we actually participated in it.
• 9:46
  We are actually able to help 18 adults, six children, two cats and two dogs
• 9:51
  to get them to safety out of the water.
• 9:52
  You know, there was a time where they were getting the
• 9:56
  the White Whale
• 9:57
  Dam was about to go overflow at that point,
• 9:59
  and they're really trying to get people out
• 10:01
  and get them evacuated to safety.
• 10:02
  And, you know, as Doctor Allen talks about, you know,
• 10:05
  I cringed a little bit, okay, you guys got to get out of there.
• 10:07
  You guys got to get out of there.
• 10:08
  Because again, we don't know if that water is going to go over that point. Right.
• 10:11
  And we were able to get out there and nothing nothing untoward happened.
• 10:14
  But you know you never know.
• 10:15
  And I think but getting everybody communicating, getting everybody to safety
• 10:18
  was a really important thing at that point.
• 10:20
  We all work together out there.
• 10:21
  And that's approved to 40in the water, which is more than a regular
• 10:26
  the car truck.
• 10:27
  And I think they might have slightly exceeded the, technical limitations
• 10:31
  because we did get a little bit of water damage
• 10:33
  in that vehicle, not to the degree of the ambulance.
• 10:35
  And it wasn't.
• 10:35
  But but what is the degree an ambulance can take?
• 10:38
  12 to 18in.
• 10:40
  And so the one that got flooded out, it went over the hood.
• 10:43
  Okay. Yeah. So that's probably four feet. Right.
• 10:46
  So it was and we're still, you know, crossed fingers hoping that can be either
• 10:49
  saved or partially salvage.
• 10:51
  It won't be a total loss. But that's still to be determined.
• 10:53
  Luckily, we were so aggressive and thankful
• 10:56
  for the mayor's budget and the council's support on ambulance purchases.
• 11:00
  We have enough and we have replacements and we're good.
• 11:03
  So that one didn't, put us down.
• 11:05
  But I mean, it was it was like less than a year old.
• 11:08
  So we really, really want to be able to rehab that.
• 11:10
  But but circling back to this, this event, the other thing that was,
• 11:15
  you know, I went to Kauai after
• 11:17
  they had the big landslide and helped over there and with a clinic in
• 11:21
  and recovery is something that is also a big part of these operations.
• 11:27
  And I saw it sniffing out
• 11:28
  there and Warren from DFM and a lot of, you know, folks from the city.
• 11:32
  But the other thing we were really concerned about is,
• 11:34
  as we know, there are cesspools on the North Shore.
• 11:36
  They were overrun.
• 11:37
  There was sewage in the water and, bacteria.
• 11:41
  And when you're doing cleanup efforts, you cut your hands, you cut you, your legs.
• 11:44
  And, we're really worried about people getting infections.
• 11:47
  And so that's why I was really happy that home, the jab,
• 11:50
  some, medical school clinics stood up in collaboration with Corps
• 11:54
  and some other medical providers to really look after the community.
• 11:58
  A lot of that. Not a lot.
• 11:59
  But there's actually there's not even a lot of doctors on the North Shore,
• 12:02
  but some of their offices were closed or damaged in the aftermath of the storm.
• 12:05
  So, having that medical support for the community
• 12:09
  that they didn't have to come into town,
• 12:10
  especially if bridges or roads were not easy to get through.
• 12:14
  I think was helpful from the medical standpoint.
• 12:16
  And then, you know, all the storm recovery
• 12:19
  with the debris and what the state was doing and, and Dot
• 12:23
  and our own DFM was really herculean as far as what they did.
• 12:27
  But it's and the community too, because they were all out there
• 12:31
  helping neighbors and it's a blueprint, unfortunately.
• 12:35
  You know, we may see this again. I hope we don't.
• 12:37
  But with climate change, who knows?
• 12:38
  But, we'll be better next time because we all wait.
• 12:42
  No matter you get, if things go perfectly, we always learn something.
• 12:45
  And so we learn things from this.
• 12:47
  So if it does happen again, or even on a smaller scale, will respond, better.
• 12:53
  Ian had mentioned that family that needed to be rescued.
• 12:57
  And then Doctor Ireland, you talked about, you know, the medical aspect.
• 13:00
  That's where you guys come in.
• 13:02
  But then when it comes down to rescue rights that night of Colonel or two,
• 13:07
  when a family is flagging you down, waving you down, and then you
• 13:10
  got two people in an ambulance going into the home to rescue them.
• 13:15
  What kind of, I mean, dangerous is it? POWs.
• 13:18
  Are they trained for this?
• 13:19
  What kind of rescues are they able to execute?
• 13:22
  And then what? Are you okay with saying? Yes.
• 13:24
  You know. Okay. Go ahead.
• 13:27
  You know, you guys can go into the home, execute this or,
• 13:30
  you know, or was it kind of up to them what happens in that situation?
• 13:33
  Those are difficult.
• 13:34
  And here's here's the other just to paint the scenario.
• 13:37
  There's so many rescues that night if they would have got into trouble
• 13:41
  meaning like got swept away or something, your personnel, our personnel
• 13:45
  or the family. Yeah.
• 13:47
  The resources to come help them might not have been available,
• 13:51
  you know, through no fault of their own,
• 13:52
  when there's 30 simultaneous rescues, there's just not enough rescuers.
• 13:55
  So you in a sense, you're on your own.
• 13:57
  And so they make decisions, independently
• 14:03
  because we're not going to say no, but we're not going to say yes.
• 14:07
  It's hard. You can't do that over the phone or the radio.
• 14:09
  They they made their own decisions based on what they saw,
• 14:13
  what the situation was, the risk analysis.
• 14:16
  I'm glad they didn't get hurt.
• 14:19
  But when you look
• 14:20
  across the country in disasters, there are times that first responders
• 14:25
  get hurt or get killed in the course of doing their job.
• 14:28
  And so, yeah, I'm proud of them.
• 14:30
  I'm glad they did it.
• 14:31
  I'm I hope it wasn't, you know, too risky.
• 14:35
  But it sounded pretty harrowing, you know?
• 14:37
  No lights, dark water.
• 14:40
  I don't know. What do you think? No. Agreed.
• 14:42
  You know, as a paramedic, you make a decision, and every day
• 14:45
  there's a decision.
• 14:46
  They make.
• 14:47
  Every day we could be driving past, houses caught fire, and we.
• 14:51
  I know paramedics that walked in and ran
• 14:53
  in and pulled people out of a burning building.
• 14:54
  I know people that,
• 14:56
  you know, you're making a rescue before the fire department gets there
• 14:58
  because the car is on fire and we're pulling people out of the car.
• 15:01
  So as paramedics and EMTs for the scene in Honolulu, every day is a risk.
• 15:05
  And every day is a job.
• 15:06
  But there's certain training that I think we equip all our personnel with basic
• 15:10
  training, and it's a scene assessment and making a risk analysis.
• 15:13
  If they can help the person, they do it to the best of their ability.
• 15:16
  The other thing in me, like the other thing that's really hard in
• 15:20
  weather events like like these storms, is aircraft get grounded.
• 15:25
  It's not safe to fly when it's pouring rain, low cloud cover.
• 15:29
  And so that's one great tool we have when this weather is good.
• 15:33
  Is that the fire department has multiple helicopters.
• 15:36
  They can come in and do air rescues.
• 15:38
  The Coast Guard can supplement them.
• 15:40
  There is a medevac on whole on Oahu now.
• 15:43
  And private air ambulance company, not for rescues
• 15:46
  but for, for, you know, scene response or transfers,
• 15:50
  but with weather, all that's grounded.
• 15:52
  And one of the concerns I've had and it happened with this event as well,
• 15:56
  is you get a rockslide in Waimea, Waimea Bay, which happened maybe not.
• 16:00
  I don't think it was not that night, but later.
• 16:02
  And you have flooding around the island on the windward side and the way
• 16:06
  Connie and my whole area and that whole part of the island,
• 16:11
  that's like a third of the island from Waimea Bay all the way around to.
• 16:14
  Why whole or why Connie is cut off.
• 16:17
  And then if you have, aircraft
• 16:20
  grounded, you can't even air ambulance somebody out.
• 16:23
  So really, our contingency plan in those situations
• 16:26
  is those ambulance have to go to Kahuku Hospital, which is a small hospital
• 16:30
  with not a lot of services, and then either get them to town by boat
• 16:35
  or high water vehicle through way wholly or with Connie.
• 16:39
  So that was not happening, I don't think that night,
• 16:41
  but that that did happen at some point during this group of storms.
• 16:46
  And so that's another contingency that we've had to plan for
• 16:49
  and continue to plan for is what happens when communities are cut off.
• 16:53
  Yeah.
• 16:54
  And so this one family that we talked about, that's just one call
• 16:57
  from that night.
• 16:58
  And I know that there's a lot of stories that didn't make the news
• 17:01
  or make their way onto Instagram, but what other kind of stories
• 17:05
  do you know of that night from your personnel, either on duty or.
• 17:08
  I know that there's a lot off duty that were out there as well,
• 17:11
  that you're aware of, you know, one thing
• 17:14
  just on an aside is to just give you an example of what was going on.
• 17:18
  You know, I talked about Lori Grace and district four.
• 17:20
  Our district three is our Windward District.
• 17:22
  And that's Waimanalo up through Kaneohe and Waikanae.
• 17:26
  And district three that night was John Lee.
• 17:29
  He got on the radio
• 17:30
  and there wasn't a lot of flooding at that time, on the windward side yet.
• 17:34
  But he what he did on his own and this is again,
• 17:37
  you know, probably one in the morning as he went
• 17:39
  and drove up to why holy and my Connie and assess the situation, he drove through
• 17:42
  Waimanalo, so we had eyes on the ground like a storm spotter.
• 17:46
  Can the ambulances get through?
• 17:48
  Is there debris?
• 17:49
  And there was an Waimanalo.
• 17:50
  Not impassable, but,
• 17:53
  and all our personnel were doing that.
• 17:55
  They were giving reports
• 17:56
  back to our dispatch and then straight to DM for rockslides.
• 17:59
  Trees down and so deep because it's in the middle of the night
• 18:03
  and there were power outages. It's dark.
• 18:05
  And so they were giving kind of that first hand feedback back to DM in the EOC,
• 18:10
  the emergency operations Center on ground conditions.
• 18:13
  And so that was helpful for us to know where to respond, how to go.
• 18:19
  But one of just get back to your point, one of our employees,
• 18:23
  who would have come in to work that night, from home.
• 18:27
  But she lived in Wailua and was trapped.
• 18:29
  And there they got out of their house with their baby on a surfboard.
• 18:34
  They paddled out.
• 18:36
  And so this was, particularly for Wailuku
• 18:40
  and the North Shore, affected a lot of people a lot here, too.
• 18:44
  And I know people like you that had to swim out of their houses and get out.
• 18:48
  And, so a lot of people affected a lot of property loss.
• 18:52
  And that's, you know, really, really unfortunate.
• 18:55
  There's economic losses.
• 18:56
  You know, the North Shore businesses have still not I don't think, recovered
• 19:00
  from, from this as far as people getting up there.
• 19:03
  And so that's why it's really important,
• 19:05
  I think for people who live here to get up to the North Shore
• 19:07
  and have a, have a shave ice or get lunch up there to really support
• 19:11
  those folks in their time of need economically.
• 19:15
  Because we're not recovered yet.
• 19:16
  I mean, they're the scars I think are getting lifted.
• 19:19
  The debris is gone. Nobody died. All that's good.
• 19:22
  But we're still kind of in recovery phase, so to speak.
• 19:26
  And I think that, yeah, I know one of the in addition to that,
• 19:29
  I think one of the stories that never got out is,
• 19:31
  you know, the great teamwork and collaboration
• 19:33
  between the new fire department and EMS with our high water vehicle.
• 19:37
  Our high water vehicle was sitting in three feet of water or higher.
• 19:40
  The fire department was rescuing a family out in all talking cap area
• 19:45
  that they had to bring towards the vehicle because they had to get them out
• 19:49
  and they couldn't open the door.
• 19:50
  So because of the way our hard water vehicle design is the fire department
• 19:55
  actually,
• 19:55
  and our guys opened the roof hatch and our guys, the fire department was able
• 19:58
  to carry the people up the ladder and have them will enter our high water vehicle
• 20:02
  through the rooftop, and then they evacuated them out
• 20:05
  so that that's something, very collaborative, very teamwork, very,
• 20:10
  you know, if we didn't have the resources,
• 20:11
  if we didn't have the fire department to get those people,
• 20:13
  if we didn't have the vehicle, how would we have gotten those people out there?
• 20:16
  Yeah.
• 20:16
  You know, there's tons of stories of how, you know, the our purpose for our guys
• 20:21
  with all the rescues that they made was pretty much water evacuation.
• 20:24
  They were just in an area where the water was just too high,
• 20:27
  and we had to figure out how to get to them and get them out
• 20:30
  so they could get to a safe higher. I ground at that point.
• 20:33
  And so how does that happen?
• 20:34
  Like, you know, Doctor Ireland alluded to this.
• 20:36
  We learned things from this. Yeah.
• 20:38
  You know, we really hope this doesn't happen again.
• 20:40
  But like you said like if this does, you know
• 20:43
  how we've approached these situations where we need to get to these people.
• 20:46
  And in this situation. Yeah, we had difficulty.
• 20:48
  How do we do that in the future?
• 20:50
  You know, I think the one thing, you know,
• 20:51
  there's 9 million people are calling 911 calls.
• 20:53
  And, you know,
• 20:54
  if the fire department did take a lot of them,
• 20:55
  but they're calling 911 saying the water is rising, what do I do?
• 20:59
  A lot of the stories I heard that night, people
• 21:01
  were told to just shelter in place.
• 21:02
  As long as you can get to higher ground, and then somebody will get to you.
• 21:05
  As Doctor Ireland's
• 21:06
  pointed out, you know, on the board, he saw 30 rescues going on.
• 21:09
  So every one of them did get rescued at some point And people were told to sit
• 21:13
  on your rooftop or people are told to stay in the higher ground
• 21:15
  on the upper floors, and it's just getting getting the opportunity there.
• 21:19
  You know, one thing about us is I think of all the disasters
• 21:22
  and all the emergencies we've had over the years.
• 21:24
  We learn from it and we prepare. We train our staff.
• 21:27
  We were able to purchase new equipment.
• 21:29
  Again.
• 21:30
  This high water vehicle was a result of a previous incident
• 21:34
  that allowed us to do other things.
• 21:36
  And, you know, we have our bus, our mass casualty vehicle bus.
• 21:39
  We were able to get that.
• 21:40
  We have our our physician response vehicle.
• 21:43
  All of these vehicles do have the capability of like a four
• 21:46
  by 2 or 4 by four type, area to drive into that.
• 21:49
  So we have expanded our scope of what we're able to respond to,
• 21:52
  and we learn from everything, and we train better moving forward.
• 21:56
  You mentioned the
• 21:57
  30 calls going on a rescue call that is going on at once.
• 22:00
  And we know about Clifford the Big, the big red one.
• 22:03
  And the high water rescue vehicle.
• 22:05
  The nickname is Clifford because it's red big red dog.
• 22:09
  So what other resources were put out to Waialua?
• 22:13
  Maybe even light? Yeah, I'm not sure where you guys had stuff.
• 22:15
  You know, crews out that night, but what did it look like?
• 22:18
  Resource wise that night of, quote, all too well,
• 22:23
  the Waialua ambulance was running calls until it flooded out
• 22:26
  at one in the morning, and then that crew was out of service.
• 22:28
  They did go with the patients in the high water rescue vehicle to Wahiawa.
• 22:32
  But then that vehicle was out.
• 22:34
  The Kahuku Ambulance was busy there.
• 22:36
  Out there, Wahiawa was providing back up to that area.
• 22:40
  And then we just shifted ambulances around to meet the needs of the calls.
• 22:46
  And then the next day and beyond,
• 22:48
  we brought in assistant chiefs to man command centers.
• 22:52
  We brought in, the next that morning, Friday morning,
• 22:55
  we took, probably something like 20,
• 23:00
  new hires and students, EMT students to make it to two,
• 23:05
  I think two four task force, EMS task force led by a paramedic supervisor.
• 23:10
  So we had the four EMS task forces.
• 23:13
  We took the entirety of the core team, which is like 25 people.
• 23:16
  So we had 50 people and we rallied and met at, Queens, Wahiawa.
• 23:21
  And those folks were ready to deploy
• 23:24
  anywhere on the island as things develop.
• 23:27
  Now, fortunately,
• 23:28
  we got a big break in the rain Friday and things actually settled down.
• 23:32
  And our normal EMS operations could handle the calls.
• 23:37
  But that was all stood up.
• 23:38
  And then beyond Friday.
• 23:40
  Then it was more these clinics and supporting the medical teams
• 23:44
  and the home, medical school teams.
• 23:47
  And so then we used the core resources to really support them.
• 23:51
  So by the time it was morning, it wasn't over.
• 23:55
  But the life threatening dangers were over.
• 23:58
  And then it was more just rescuing people that were stuck in houses, but not in
• 24:03
  maybe medical need and stuff like that.
• 24:05
  So as fast as it came on,
• 24:08
  it kind of went away in acuity.
• 24:11
  But the recovery then mode was off, as you know, for a,
• 24:15
  you know, two weeks after I want to talk about those,
• 24:18
  I guess they would be equivalent to the recruits
• 24:20
  that you mentioned, those students that got put into play during this event.
• 24:24
  What kind of experience did they did they get?
• 24:26
  Because I know that while there were still people,
• 24:28
  you know, you'd mentioned infections and things going on in Wailua.
• 24:31
  There's still medical calls happening all over the place.
• 24:33
  What did this provide them with?
• 24:36
  Well, when we're talking about the recruits,
• 24:38
  that was the, ten or so people that were in our Waianae Academy.
• 24:42
  They had finished a lot of their EMT program
• 24:44
  but hadn't graduated yet and aren't weren't licensed yet,
• 24:48
  we took them and we had eight people, I believe, that were licensed
• 24:52
  but newly hired and hadn't finished their evaluation yet.
• 24:55
  So I think that was around 18 people or so,
• 24:58
  and we broke them into groups, and each group had a paramedic,
• 25:00
  instructor, paramedic supervisor with leading each group.
• 25:04
  So the students couldn't act on their own.
• 25:08
  The new higher evals legally could act on their own,
• 25:11
  but they weren't fully evaluated to our system yet.
• 25:14
  But in the event of a disaster which this was, they could render aid.
• 25:18
  They could be part of the team.
• 25:20
  I believe two of the groups were put in ambulances.
• 25:22
  Two were put in, vans to for fast response, and they were on standby.
• 25:26
  And we actually didn't I think we maybe just needed them for a call or two.
• 25:29
  We didn't need them for a lot of work, but they were ready.
• 25:32
  In the event that, that they had to be called into action.
• 25:37
  And so it was probably eye opening for them to just be thrust into a disaster.
• 25:43
  But we have good leadership. They had leaders with them.
• 25:46
  They were supervised, so they were ready and they were willing.
• 25:50
  And I think,
• 25:52
  I think we would do that again if we had to, because in these
• 25:55
  kind of situations, it's all hands on deck and we don't have the deepest bench.
• 25:59
  Our department's about 250 people, a lot smaller than the fire department
• 26:04
  and police department.
• 26:04
  But like I said, we have a great team.
• 26:07
  Everybody works really hard.
• 26:08
  You know, dispatch,
• 26:10
  unsung heroes a lot of times, you know, I talked about their role in the fireworks
• 26:14
  disaster a few years ago on New Year's Eve, and they're fielding
• 26:18
  all these calls and helping people and giving people advice.
• 26:21
  So they were on their A-game that night, too,
• 26:25
  and telling people were coming and where to go and what to do.
• 26:28
  In EMS dispatch.
• 26:29
  And so they they were really great that night as well.
• 26:32
  And, they're like kind of the first first responders.
• 26:35
  They're talking to people as they're calling and giving them instructions
• 26:38
  and kind of calming them down and leading our team to them.
• 26:41
  So it was really a just great effort.
• 26:44
  Very proud of everybody.
• 26:45
  I'm just privileged, both Ian and I, to just be,
• 26:50
  part of this great team, that does such great work.
• 26:53
  Well, that I know.
• 26:54
  Is there anything that we've missed or any final words?
• 26:57
  Preparedness.
• 26:58
  I think one thing is, you know,
• 27:01
  people don't know what's behind the scenes, and we don't.
• 27:03
  It's kind of hard to tell you what's behind the scenes, but,
• 27:06
  you know, we are prepared.
• 27:07
  And I think as a department, one thing, you know, all these shelters that were set
• 27:11
  up, the emergency services department, we have the shelter kits
• 27:14
  that we work with collaboratively with Department of Emergency Management.
• 27:18
  We work with the Department of Facility Maintenance
• 27:20
  with the city to get these things out to the community.
• 27:24
  We have disaster water.
• 27:26
  We have disaster supplies.
• 27:27
  You know, a lot of the supplies that work at the Community Assistance Center
• 27:31
  through our core program, we had in our warehouse
• 27:34
  and we provided PPE to the community as well as gloves as well as water,
• 27:39
  as well as goggles and other things to help with the cleanup.
• 27:42
  So, you know, we we have to from beginning to end, there's the preparedness.
• 27:47
  There's the response, and then there's the recovery effort.
• 27:49
  Right. So, you know, as a department as a whole, we have all of that.
• 27:52
  And we we pride ourselves on being prepared.
• 27:54
  And, you know, we're not going to be prepared for everything.
• 27:57
  But, you know,
• 27:58
  we we're best prepared as we can be
• 28:00
  for the time being, especially living in an island state.
• 28:01
  You know, what everybody forgets to is we we don't get help
• 28:05
  for at least 48 to 72 hours from either side, from us,
• 28:09
  or if we're calling from the mainland, the continent for help
• 28:11
  is going to take that long for somebody to get here.
• 28:13
  So we tell everybody, you got to be prepared to as yourself, right?
• 28:16
  So we prepare, but the community has to be prepared also.
• 28:20
  You know, just
• 28:21
  I'd like to just finish with saying that the other thing that that's
• 28:24
  so special here is the Honolulu EMS has a wonderful working
• 28:29
  relationship with the police department and the fire department at all levels.
• 28:33
  And that's not true everywhere.
• 28:35
  And there's rivalries and there's competition in big cities.
• 28:37
  And you hear about agencies that don't work together.
• 28:40
  And we all know that we take care of each other's friends and family.
• 28:43
  It's a it's a big it's a big small town Oahu.
• 28:46
  And so I think everybody gets that and everybody works really,
• 28:50
  really well together.
• 28:51
  And that's just benefits the community because we're all
• 28:54
  in this for the community, not for each other.
• 28:57
  And so we all have good relationships with the fire and police,
• 29:01
  chiefs and commanders at our level.
• 29:03
  But it's also it's all the way down.
• 29:04
  And so, that seamless interaction and work
• 29:09
  together, the crew, how we work together, really is great.
• 29:14
  And I just I always look back on these major events,
• 29:18
  fireworks, this flood and how we all work together
• 29:21
  and how it went so well because of how we work together.
• 29:25
  So just, hats off to our, our counterparts in the other agencies.
• 29:30
  Well, again,
• 29:31
  PSD Director Jim Ireland, deputy Director Ian Santee, thank you both for your time.
• 29:35
  Thanks. Thank you.
• 29:36
  And next week we'll sit down with Mayor Blangiardi back from his trip to China.
• 29:40
  That's right here on one Oahu Podcast.
• 29:42
  Mahalo for listening. And until next time, Aloha.