New Home For Wahiawa EMS Service
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It may have taken a while, 12 years to be exact, but Wahiawa Emergency Medical Services finally has a home - at 640 California Ave.
Since 1979 when the city took over ambulance service in the area that includes Wahiawa, Mililani, Schofield and Kunia, Wahiawa EMS has been chased from one temporary home to another while the slow wheels of government finally came to its long-awaited conclusion. Prior to the city’s involvement, two private companies served the emergency medical needs of the area.
“We were located in a wing off the original fire station in Wahiawa, and when the plans were being developed for the new fire station ... they did not include a immediate building for EMS,” said EMS chief Patricia Dukes. “In the mid-1990s the ambulance unit moved out of the fire station and into a building at Wahiawa General (hospital). About a year later it was torn down because the termites all left, and the building collapsed.”
While the EMS always had a home, albiet a small one, the biggest problem was the scattering of equipment. Oxygen tanks were held at the hospital and other supplies in a Matson container at Wahiawa police station.
As of Nov. 20, such concerns are no longer a problem. The new 1,512-square foot facility was dedicated and blessed that day.
It represents quite a step up from the previous home, Dukes said, proudly. “We have a garage for our car (ambulance); we have a kitchen, a crew area, a locker room, a bathroom. We have a dispensary for people who walk into the station - meaning we’re able to take care of patients in the case of a disaster and the ambulance can’t make it out to a patient so we can manage them there at the station.”
One reason it took so long is that the EMS has to serve two masters, state and city. It’s a city service, but funding comes from the state Department of Health. Not to mention the discovery that their own plans were a bit too grandiose and had to be adjusted.
Emergency Medical Services is part of the city Emergency Services Department, which also covers ocean safety and lifeguard services. A year ago, the Wahiawa EMS responded to more than 1,800 calls.
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