2005-02-09 Fire Commission Minutes

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husband asked him to help because he was experiencing pain every two to three minutes. This employee than told her husband, You know what brah, we need to assess the situation first. Mrs. Arraujoagain asked this employee to help her husband. The employee abruptly asked her, What do youwant us to do? She told him that she did not know. They were there for assistance from the fire personnel. She thenaskedhim to check her husband, or take him to the hospital. The employee then told her that they are not a taxi service. Mrs. Arraujo emotionally explained that she understood that these employees needed to assess the situation. But they did not offer any medical assistance. They did not even get him out of the truck. Finally, her son told her that they should leave because they were not going to be helped. The Arraujos drove to the Emergency Room in Waimea. The ER immediately administered an I.V. The employees there noticed that she was very upset. She explained to them their experienceattheHonokaaFireStation.TheEmergencyRoomemployeesaid that the Honokaa Fire Station had called to say that a gentleman would be arriving with extreme abdominal pains, but they could not offer any information to the hospital because they did not know his name, age, or vitals. At approximately 10:00 a.m., her older son drove to the Honokaa Fire Station to file a complaint. He spoke to Mr. Felix Asia who stated that he could not release the names of the personnel on duty. Her son insisted and told Mr. Asia that he would either file a complaint against the one rude firefighter or the entire Fire Station. Mr. Asia did provide her son with the names of the employees on duty. In November, she spoke to Chief Oliveira and learned that he was not aware of the complaint or the incident. Mrs. Arraujo commented that these were individuals they should have been able to trust. This incident should not be swept under the rug. Ms. Ramona Nordlof introduced herself as Mr. Arraujos sister and stated that her brothers experience was unacceptable and the system needs to be reevaluated. In her complaint filed, she was able to name the acting Captain during that particular shift. She feels the Captains negligence could have cost her brother his life. Commissioner Fergerstrom asked Ms. Nordlof if she was present at the time of the incident and if her complaint was separate from Mrs. Arraujos. Ms. Nordlof stated that she was not present and that their complaints were filed separately. Commissioner Bowles thanked the Arraujo family for coming forward with their complaint. 4