LIHUE — The AED Institute of Hawaii arrived at the Lihue Airport crash fire station Tuesday with boxes.
But the boxes contained lei and refreshments unique to Honolulu, not the usual lesson plans, supplies, and other support for automated external defribrilators.
“We’re here today to celebrate saving lives,” said Pam Foster, a registered nurse with the AED Institute. “I’ve been with the AED program at airports since 2006, and we’ve saved a lot of lives.”
Foster said there is no one person, or agency that contributes to saving lives.
Rather, it is the collaboration and good working relationships among the different groups, including first responders, that is the success of saving lives.
This goes to the efforts of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay who spearheads the effort of having AEDs installed at different locations throughout the island, to the response efforts of the different groups, including Securitas, the Lihue Airport Crash Fire, the American Medical Response ambulance teams, and the Kauai Fire Department.
“It is through their good working relationships with each other, and the good first responses that save lives,” Foster said.
The short afternoon break was a change from the normal classroom and response preparedness that normally govern visits from the AED Institute.
The state Department of Transportation initiated the state’s first Public Access to Defribrillation AED program in 2006 throough Operation Stay’N Alive. Within six months of the program’s launch, the survival rate escalated from the national average of 1 to 5 percent, to an 84 percent survival rate.
Today, the PAD AED program incorporates more than 150 AEDs installed in 13 airports on six islands. Thousands of employees and airport users have been trained in life-saving skills of cardio pulmonary resucitation and how to use the AEDs to save lives.
Lihue Airport features six AEDs, including one in the commuter terminal, one in the central lobby area, and two each in the passenger holding wings.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
