Report Title:

Appropriation; Maui Emergency Medical Air Transport

Description:

Appropriates funds for intra-county emergency medical air helicopter services for residents of the county of Maui. (HB1498 HD1)

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1498

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

making an appropriation for emergency medical air transport services for the county of maui.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that trauma, severely injured, or ill patients in the county of Maui require timely and rapid emergency medical air transport services to ensure that they can receive definitive medical care at tertiary hospitals in Honolulu, Oahu. Although there are fixed-wing aeromedical services in the State of Hawaii, this does not guarantee that these services are always readily available to trauma, severely injured, or ill patients in remote rural areas.

The legislature further finds that Hawaii's fixed-wing aeromedical system is highly developed and sophisticated; moreover, it is the primary mode of aeromedical transport in Hawaii. In most instances, fixed-wing operations provide a more cost-effective and efficient mode of transport of trauma, seriously ill, and critically ill patients who have been stabilized and require emergency medical transportation to a tertiary care facility.

The primary value of emergency medical air helicopter services is to augment fixed-wing operations, where a severely ill or severely injured person can be transported to the most appropriate medical facility. This is particularly critical in cases where fixed-wing planes cannot readily land. Aeromedical helicopters are able to pick up patients alongside roads, in mountainous areas, and in isolated places. In many cases, the time required for persons to receive definitive medical care is the single most important factor for their survival.

For the past decade, emergency room physicians and others have expressed concerns over Hawaii's inadequate emergency aeromedical system. Consequently, the legislature passed Act 59, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, to require the department of health to develop a plan for aeromedical services. In response to Act 59, the department of health submitted a report to the legislature in 1999.

According to the report, a panel was convened in 1998 to examine the need for both fixed-wing and rotor-wing aeromedical services in Hawaii. The panel agreed that "an aeromedical system must assure timely transport of seriously ill and severely injured persons to definitive medical care facilities." The legislature agrees that such a system must be in place to transfer patients from the initial receiving facility to an appropriate facility safely and in a timely manner. There is a particular need for these services for residents of the county of Maui because of the geographic isolation and limited access to transportation in this region.

Consequently, the purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the department of health to:

(1) Provide intra-county emergency medical air helicopter services for the residents of the county of Maui to prevent any unnecessary loss of human life because of the lack of access to rapid transportation; and

(2) Design emergency medical air helicopter services for the county of Maui that augments Hawaii's existing fixed-wing system and expands services in emergency situations to geographic areas where the current fixed-wing system may not be feasible.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004-2005 for the provision of intra-county emergency medical air helicopter services to the residents of the county of Maui; provided that:

(1) The emergency medical air helicopter services offer transportation service only in geographic locations and emergency situations where Hawaii's current fixed-wing operations are unable to provide appropriate service;

(2) Any intra-county emergency medical air helicopter services and its crew shall be based at the Maui memorial medical center; and

(3) The county of Maui shall appropriate an equal or greater amount to share in the cost of providing the intra-county emergency medical air helicopter services.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.