LIHU‘E — Emergency responders rescued visitors in at least three separate incidents Thursday and Friday, ranging from Na Pali Coast to Koke‘e. Kaua‘i firefighters and rescue specialists got expert help Friday afternoon on the North Shore. A California firefighter and
LIHU‘E — Emergency responders rescued visitors in at least three separate incidents Thursday and Friday, ranging from Na Pali Coast to Koke‘e.
Kaua‘i firefighters and rescue specialists got expert help Friday afternoon on the North Shore. A California firefighter and emergency medical technician here on vacation used tree branches to fashion a splint for a 70-year-old female visitor from California who broke her leg while hiking to Hanakapi‘ai Beach, a county press release states.
She was hiking on the trail with relatives around 2 p.m. when the incident occurred.
The visiting first-responder further prepared the woman to be picked up by Kaua‘i Fire Department personnel.
Rescue specialists from the Lihu‘e station responded on Air-1, loaded the injured hiker in a Stokes litter and brought her to Princeville Airport, where awaiting American Medical Response professionals transported her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
Rescue specialists and firefighters provided assistance Thursday afternoon to visitors in two separate incidents on Pihea Trail in Koke‘e.
The initial call came in at 4:25 p.m. regarding a 55-year-old visitor who had broken her leg about a mile from the trailhead.
Firefighters from the Waimea station, rescue specialists from the Lihu‘e station and Air-1 responded to the call.
The firefighters hiked in, treated the injured hiker and prepared her for transit, while the rescue specialists boarded Air-1 at Pt. Allen and flew to Koke‘e for the helicopter transport.
The hiker was airlifted to a parking lot near the Kalalau lookout, where awaiting AMR medics transported her to Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital.
Soon thereafter, Rescue 3 and Air-1 returned to Koke‘e to locate a 16-year-old girl and her 14-year-old brother from Japan, who had become separated from their parents on the trail.
At around 7 p.m., the teenagers were found, picked up and then flown to a nearby parking lot where they were reunited with their parents, a county press release states.
