State honors cream of the crop in emergency medical services Two American Medical Response employees were honored today in Honolulu for outstanding medical service on Kaua’i. George Mones, an emergency medical technician with 20 years of service on Kaua’i, and
State honors cream of the crop in emergency medical services
Two American Medical Response employees were honored today in Honolulu for outstanding medical service on Kaua’i.
George Mones, an emergency medical technician with 20 years of service on Kaua’i, and Stacy Oho, an instructor in emergency medical services at Kaua’i Community College, were to join four other emergency service personnel at an awards ceremony at the state Department of Health. The agency’s director, Bruce Anderson, presented the awards.
The presentation was part of activities observing Emergency Medical Services Week in Hawai’i, which Governor Ben Cayetano proclaimed May 20-26.
Also through a proclamation issued this week, the Kaua’i County Council recognized the tribute to Mones and Oho and emergency medical service personnel statewide.
Mones is receiving the award for Outstanding Emergency Medical Technician for 2001. He was selected because of his involvement in community and school activities.
Mones, a Kilauea resident, is a president of the Parent Teacher Association at Kilauea School and helped secure construction funds for the new Kilauea Public Library.
Oho was named Outstanding Emergency Services Instructor for 2001.
Oho has worked with International Life Support/American Medical Response Hawaii as a mobile intensive care technician and as the firm’s health and safety officer on Kaua’i. He recently accepted the teaching post at KCC, where he retrains ambulance personnel.
Oho, who commutes from Oahu to Kaua’i, also has trained the Kaua’i County Police Department on the use of an automatic external defibrillator and has led classes on first responder retraining for county lifeguards and police officers.
He also leads an emergency medical technician class at the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility.
“I am very proud of my two winners. It reflects the type of service that is provided to residents and visitors by American Medical Response,” said Zack Octavio, operations manager for the company.
The company employs 18 mobile intensive career technicians and 20 emergency medical technicians who are stationed at five ambulance stations in Kapa’a, Lihu’e, Koloa, Waimea and Princeville.
American Medical Response has a state contract to provide medical services to Kaua’i County.
Other award recipients honored in today’s ceremony include:
l Roy Arakaki, who has 36 years in health services, with the prestigious Livingston M.F. Wong M.D. Lifetime Achievement Award for emergency medical service professionals and organizations. The award is the highest civilian honor presented to an emergency medical services provider or to an organization in Hawai’i.
Starting in 1965, Arakaki served as an Army surgical technician. In civilian emergency medical services, he worked for many years on Big Island.
l Dr. John Mills, Outstanding Emergency Physician for 2001. Mills is based at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku.
l Chris Kamakani Botelho, an American Medical Response employee on O’ahu, Outstanding Mobile Intensive Care Technician for 2001.
l Mark Y. Yeager, Outstanding Public Safety EMS First Responder.
Yeager, a Honolulu Fire Department firefighter, is the founder of Baby Hui, a program teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation to new mothers, and the Tiny Tots program, a CPR and child safety program for parents of toddlers. Yeager also has been involved in community affairs.
Award recipients are nominated by emergency medical practitioners statewide and are selected by a panel of senior emergency medical and health care executives.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
