How To Be A Better Hawai‘i Local: In an Emergency

According to Shayne Enright, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services and Ocean Safety spokesperson.

November 10, 2021

HONOLULU Magazine Team,

Make sure your address is visible from the street

Numbers should be clearly seen on your house, mailbox, or painted on the curb. Light it at night. When minutes matter, paramedics and emergency medical technicians need to find patients quickly.

Wear a mask

During the pandemic, first responders ask everyone inside to mask up and that only one person—who knows the patient’s history and what happened—remain in the room.

Call 911

Call 911 for life-threatening emergencies such as difficulty breathing, traumatic bleeding, stroke and childbirth. Don’t believe the myth that you’ll shortcut the line at the ER with a minor issue if you arrive by ambulance.

Don’t get frustrated by the EMS dispatcher’s questions

The information gathered helps prioritize calls for the 21 units that cover all of O‘ahu and is relayed to the crew responding so it is prepared.

Pull Over

Pull over for ambulances and other emergency vehicles, especially when traffic is terrible. Picture the paramedic treating a child clinging to life in the back of the ambulance, while their partner tries to navigate around vehicles not getting out of the way.