Kula Community Association Position on

Twenty-four-hour Locally Based Advanced Life Support Ambulance Service in Kula

(Adopted� 2/15/01)

 Kula is the only rural area on Maui without twenty-four-hour locally based advanced life support ambulance service.� Currently, the Kula ambulance is in service only ten hours, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and must cover the area from Kaupo Store to Omaopio Road and from the summit of Haleakala down to the junction of Pulehu and Omaopio Roads below Kula Glen.�

 The Kula/Makawao/Pukalani (upcountry) region of Maui is a fast growing residential and tourist community with a population of 19,000 in 1990 and a projected 2010 population of 24,000.� Kula's population consists of many elderly citizens as well as residents and visitors involved in high risk activities and occupations such as downhill biking, hang gliding, ranching, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, farming, and cycling.�

 Without 24-hour ambulance coverage the nearest ambulance available must answer emergencies occurring after regular hours. The response time of ambulances from other communities is fifteen to thirty minutes longer than the response time for the Kula ambulance.�� The prolonged response time by advanced life support ambulance service can mean the difference between life and death for residents and visitors in our community.� Moreover, the community of the responding ambulance is adversely impacted when its ambulance must cover Kula emergencies.

 For the past decade the board of directors and the general membership of the Kula Community Association have placed the need for 24-hour ambulance service as one of its highest priorities.� We urge the legislature of the State of Hawaii to appropriate such funds as are necessary to provide twenty-four-hour locally based advanced life support ambulance service to Kula.� The board of directors and the general membership of the Kula Community Association also urge the Governor and the Department of Health of the State of Hawaii to ensure the release and distribution of such funds as are necessary to provide this essential service for Kula.

 Our Legislators Need to Hear From YOU.�

 Write, call, email, or fax them to share your concerns and experiences and to make your request heard.� The legislature is in session now.� Contact them soon - by March 6. 

�         Mailing address: State Capitol, Room # , 415 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI 96813.� 
�         Toll free telephone: Dial 984-2400 and when the operator asks punch in the last five digits of the legislator's telephone number (see below).�

Senator Avery Chumbley, Room 215 ����������� ����������� Senator J. Kalani English, Room 205
Phone: 586-6030������� Fax: 586-6031 ����������� ����������� Phone: 587-7225������� Fax: 587-7230��� 
E-mail: [email protected]���������� ����������� ����������� ����������� E-mail: [email protected]

Representative Kika Bukoski, Room 317������ ����������� Representative Mina Morita, Room 315
Phone: 586-6330������� Fax: 586-6331 ����������� ����������� Phone: 586-8435������� Fax: 586-8437
E-mail: [email protected]��������� ����������� E-mail: [email protected]

 Representative Chris Halford, Room 305
Phone: 586-8525������� Fax: 586-8529
E-mail: [email protected]