Hawaii island

County officials aim to outfit police cars with defibrillators

HILO >> Hawaii officials are trying to put more automated external defibrillators in police cruisers as part of a countywide effort to save people when they suffer cardiac arrest.

Hawaii County officials want at least half of the county’s police patrol car fleet outfitted with the defibrillators, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported. The county has boosted its rate of people it saves from cardiac arrest to 13 percent. That’s more than triple the rate three years ago, Fire Department Capt. Chris Honda said.

Cardiac arrests often occur between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., and some people are in remote locations far from a hospital or an ambulance when they suffer cardiac arrest, Honda said.

Efforts to improve the number of people saved from cardiac arrest started three years ago. The county has since received a $50,000 donation it used to buy 30 defibrillators for the police cars.

Officers volunteered to be a part of the effort, police Capt. Aimee Wana said.

The goal is for defibrillators to be available for officers during all of their shifts in the Hilo, Puna and Kailua-Kona districts.

The American Heart Association in Hawaii plans to work with the state Department of Education to require cardio- pulmonary resuscitation training for high school students before they graduate.

“It’s anticipated that that will result in a doubling or tripling of survival,” said Don Weisman, the division’s government relations director.

Kauai

Shark attack victim described as upbeat despite amputation

A man who witnessed a shark attack on Kauai says the victim is a French surfer who had part of a leg amputated but is in remarkably good spirits.

Mac Pigott told KHON-TV he visited the victim Saturday in a hospital on Kauai following the attack at Davidson’s Beach.

Pigott says doctors amputated one of the man’s legs just below the knee. He says the victim is setting goals so he can compete one day in the Paralympic Games.

Officials closed the beach Friday after the attack and reopened it Saturday.

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Associated Press