The state Legislature passed a resolution two weeks ago calling for increased emergency preparedness to protect Hawaii’s kupuna, and both emergency-response organizations and elder-support groups seem to agree the path to that elevated protection lies within communities.
As the resolution, HCR37, advanced through House and Senate committees from its March 3 introduction to its April 16 adoption, it had an abundance of resounding testimonies in support, but lacked a clear plan for actively elevating the protection of kupuna. The absence of clear guidance beyond the structured response efforts already in place was source of frustration for Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator, who called the resolution “very, very broad.”
“Unless the resolution brings about specific funding or addresses specific programs, it’s kind of just doing what we do already,” Magno said. “We address all levels of the population: the elderly, vulnerable families, kids, businesses — we try to hit everybody.”
Talmadge recalled the effectiveness of his agency’s partnership with the county’s Office of Aging and the Department of Parks and Recreation in a recent response to a Waikoloa Village fire requiring evacuation. Through these partnerships, a reliable list of seniors in need of assistance and their support networks were identified, and buses were dispatched from Kailua-Kona to make sure they escaped danger efficiently.
Magno said the current plan is to continue providing the effective response protocols already in place, along with the multiple disaster preparedness fairs Civil Defense hosts several times per year at different locations. Two preparedness fairs were held in Waimea and Hilo last year, and the two planned for this year will be in Kailua-Kona and Pahoa, Magno said.
Looking ahead to 2026, Magno said the agency is planning to offer four opportunities to learn about emergency prep through such fairs, along with smaller disaster education opportunities that are offered through individual clubs or venues by request, and appearances at larger health fairs.
“We do a lot of outreach throughout the year for the public to spread the word on preparedness and resilience,” Magno said.
Magno also encouraged the community to work together by familiarizing themselves with their neighbors well enough to know who may need extra assistance. Magno also encouraged the community to contact Civil Defense directly to make sure the most vulnerable community members and their needs are known by responders ahead of time.
“I’m hoping that this (resolution) is motivated from the community, and then maybe perhaps with some town halls we can get better guidance as to what specifically they’re looking for,” he said.
AARP Representative Craig Gima said, “Hawaii County does such a great job, they can teach the rest of the state or other counties” about effective emergency-response techniques.
AARP’s support of the resolution noted an equally vague lack of guidance about protected kupuna the nonprofit saw in the Lahaina Fire Final Phase Three report. This report on the 2023 Maui wildfire found that people over age 60 made up two-thirds of the deaths in the Lahaina disaster, yet, “none of (the report’s) detailed recommendations include initiatives that focus specifically on reducing kupuna deaths,” AARP Hawaii State Director Keali‘i Lopez said in her testimony supporting the state’s resolution.
Lopez’s testimony agreed with Magno’s position about the community preparing itself for a disaster response by making sure neighbors with more resources know about and help vulnerable kupuna.
“AARP has worked with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency staff on promoting disaster resilience in communities,” Lopez said in her testimony, “organizing communities and neighborhoods in advance of a disaster so they can help each other out before, during, and after a disaster.”
Lopez said AARP’s work towards supporting advanced community preparedness included working with “nonprofit disaster organization the Saint Bernard Project to develop a checklist for managers of senior independent living facilities so they can create emergency plans and practice what to do in a disaster.” Lopez’s testimony said AARP is beginning to introduce the checklist to affordable senior housing communities throughout the state.
Another resource AARP offers kupuna is the 44-page Disaster Resilience Toolkit they developed with FEMA, which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/48mjywa3.
Gima added that the Alzheimer’s Association offers valuable guidance on assisting kupuna with Alzheimer’s during a disaster, but the joint conclusion both the disaster response agency and elder support group came to is that the strongest resource for saving kupuna in a disaster is supporting each other as a community far before a disaster happens.
“A focused effort to help kupuna survive a disaster must come from the communities themselves,” Lopez wrote in her testimony, “from friends, family, and neighbors with government support and leadership.”
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
