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Hawaii wants copter medevac service back

HONOLULU — State officials want to bring helicopter medevac service back to Oahu, which has not had the choppers to assist with serious traffic accidents and other emergencies for almost six months.

Officials are looking to resume medevac service at a reduced cost by paying for the helicopters only when they’re used and not while they’re simply on standby. Hawaii has spent millions of dollars on medevac coverage since helicopters from Schofield Barracks stopped providing the service for free in 2006.

“Kind of like renting an airplane,” said Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, the state adjutant general. “I use it for two hours, I’ll pay you for two hours.”

Patty Dukes, chief of city Emergency Medical Services, said the loss of medevac helicopters has not endangered Oahu residents. The time it takes for victims to be loaded on a helicopter often does not make it a faster way of getting to the hospital than driving in an ambulance, she said.

But Dukes added that helicopter assistance is valuable in accidents involving six or more patients.

Helicopters from Schofield Barracks provided medevac service for free for more than 30 years. But the Army canceled that service in 2006 because the helicopters were needed in Iraq.

The Hawaii National Guard filled in for several months before its helicopters too were needed in Iraq. According to some estimates, Hawaii paid $8 million for the National Guard helicopters, which were based in Hilo, to be on standby for civilian emergencies on Oahu.

Most recently, the Army brought in six helicopters from an Alaska-based Army unit to handle the Hawaii medevac service.

In addition to paying for the helicopters only when they’re used, Lee said he wants to expand the number of landing sites for the choppers. The additional landing spots, he said, would reduce transportation time to the hospital for accident victims.