Life-saving tubes coming to south Maui beaches ADVERTISING Life-saving tubes coming to south Maui beaches HONOLULU (AP) — Maui County is moving forward with a life-saving initiative that will bring rescue tubes to several beaches on the island. The initiative
Life-saving tubes coming to south Maui beaches
HONOLULU (AP) — Maui County is moving forward with a life-saving initiative that will bring rescue tubes to several beaches on the island.
The initiative first launched on Kauai and Hawaii Island. Maui County approved the rescue tubes earlier this year and beachgoers can expect to see them placed on beaches along the island’s south shore by the end of the month.
The tubes can be thrown out to a person in distress or used by a rescuer to swim to the victim.
State Department of Health statistics show there were 114 drownings on Maui between 2005 and 2014. Nearly 30 percent of those happened on the south side of the island.
Members of the Rotary Club of Kihei-Wailea are behind the rescue tube effort and hope the tubes will serve to cut down on the number of drownings.
The Rotary Club is still seeking state approval to get the rescue tubes placed at state parks on Maui.
Kaiser seeks employees before hospital takeover
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — Kaiser Permanente officials are encouraging Maui residents to apply for jobs at three public hospitals on the island as they scramble to fill positions before the state facilities become private this summer.
The state will transfer Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Clinic and Lanai Community Hospital to Kaiser on July 1. The private health care provider was selected to take control of the financially troubled hospitals in 2015.
There are benefits to putting in applications as soon as possible. Employees will get credit for the service time they have with the Maui Region of Hawaii Health System Corp. and can start accruing time off and retirement benefits, said Jean Melnikoff, vice president of human resources for Kaiser Permanente.
More than 90 percent of the 1,500 state hospital employees accepted jobs with Kaiser, Melnikoff said. But hospital officials reported staffing shortages and overworked employees during the past year as the transition was stalled by union and contract dues.
Melnikoff said positions that still need to be filled include registered nurses and nurse’s aides and jobs in lab and diagnostic imaging, physical and occupation therapy and clerical positions.
Candidates for the job vacancies will need to apply with the state, undergo screening and present all proper documents. If a person were to be hired before the July transition, Melnikoff said, the switch from state employee to private employee “is not complicated at all.”
23-year-old killed in wreck
HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities say a man riding a moped in a Honolulu neighborhood died after crashing into a parked vehicle.
Twenty-three-year-old Bryan Suguitan lost control of the moped before he struck the SUV parked near a gas station Saturday night in Kalihi. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died.
Police say speed appears to be a factor in the crash and the case remains under investigation.
Medical examiner seeks more help with autopsies
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s chief medical examiner is asking city officials for more financial support as his office struggles to deal with a heavy workload.
Dr. Christopher Happy submitted his budget report to the City Council, asking for additional funding to hire another forensic pathologist to conduct autopsies. The report says the number of cases at the Honolulu office exceeds national standards.
An administrative officer for Happy’s office says its four pathologists handle 1,400 to 1,500 autopsies a year, which amounts to more than 350 autopsies for each pathologist.
The National Association of Medical Examiners recommends each pathologist conduct only 250 autopsies a year. Experts say short staffing is a problem at medical examiner’s offices throughout the country.
Autopsies are crucial to police investigations, and having overburdened pathologists could lead to wrongful convictions, said Ken Lawson, with the Hawaii Innocence Project.
