Triage care weighs more than age

A letter describing age as a “tie-breaker” in the rationing of medical care was misleading and upsetting (“Responsible people should be protected,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 4).

All the information leading up to age being the “tie-breaker” was left out. Disaster triage systems have been around a long time, and all of them are based on who has the best chance of survival. This includes medical history, severity of current injury or illness, vaccination status and more.

It is only after all other variables have been considered and equal, that age would become a factor in decision-making. If an older person has a better chance at surviving, they will be given the extra help.

I hope we never have to put these systems into practice, but it’s important to be prepared should the worst be upon us.

Patty Lentz

Aina Haina

Supreme Court can’t rule based on polls

With the U.S. Supreme Court about to deliberate on lower- court gun control and abortion decisions, the anxiety Democrats and their media friends are experiencing borders on panic.

Their concerns center on the justices they label as conservative ruling contrary to current, poll-tested public opinions on how those issues should be decided. They note that the current court is out of step with the public, as evidenced by the court’s low approval ratings.

Columnist Ruth Marcus said, “A court whose ideological balance is out of line with that of the country can find itself in dangerous territory” (“Supreme Court’s credibility hangs in this term’s balance,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 6).

Are she and others suggesting the court should base its findings on what is currently popular, versus ruling in consonance with settled law buttressed by the nation’s Constitution? That indeed would be dangerous territory.

Tom Freitas

Hawaii Kai

Idle rail equipment will deteriorate

In the photo accompanying your article about the half-inch gap problem with the rail project’s wheels, I couldn’t help but notice that the wheels appear to be rusting (“HART officials have no answers for rail’s door, wheel, track problems,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 5).

How much longer will the already purchased trains and completed stations have to sit empty and unused before they become rusty, moldy and vandalized, even before they are used? Yet another problem around the corner.

If I leave my car, boat or motorcycle unused for very long, guess what happens when I go try to start one of them up?

James Maloney

Waikiki

Case would block needed child care

I hope U.S. Rep. Ed Case reads every single line of the heartbreaking cover story detailing the crisis in our state’s A+ after- school program (“A+ program waitlist balloons,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 6.)

Let me repeat and insist that Case understand the tragic toll taken on island families and keiki caused by the lack of child-care resources — those same lifeline social services he is blocking in President Joe Biden’s humane Build Back Better bill.

We don’t want to hear Case’s hollow, “Where are you getting your information?” rationales, or declarations about his “conservative ideology.”

Our fractured democracy and the shameful lack of sustaining social safety nets are an indictment of the same positions he is taking.

Stop sabotaging the president’s policies, Rep. Case. What is your response to the parents quoted in the article who must choose between quitting their jobs or abandoning their children?

Some 4,000 to 5,000 elementary school-age children are in desperate need of child care.

Just ask the caring leaders of the Hawai‘i Afterschool Alliance. They set a better example for ethical public policy than Case does.

Nancie Caraway

Manoa

Other afterschool programs need help

Across Hawaii, thousands of keiki are without afterschool programs they need, as the article, “A+ program waitlist balloons,” correctly describes (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 6).

But the challenges are not only happening in the A+ programs. Boys & Girls Clubs also need critical support so that we can better serve our children and youth.

There’s a simple fix. The federal government’s COVID-19 relief bills from earlier this year provide federal dollars for afterschool programs to each of the 50 states. It’s up to the states to get those dollars to actual afterschool programs.

That last step — granting the money to programs — needs to happen immediately so that programs can hire up and return to full strength.

In addition, child-care funding from cities and counties would be wisely invested in staffing up afterschool programs. Together we are stronger.

Paddy Kauhane

Downtown Honolulu

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