Hana Stroke Patient Medevaced to Maui Hospital

Medics and emergency responders pose for a picture during the dedication in September of 2011, of the helipad at the Maui Memorial Medical Center. The helipad is used in the transport of patients via medevac for emergency medical care. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

A 50-year-old Hana woman was medevaced to from East Maui on Monday due to an apparent stroke.

The woman was flown in serious condition to Maui Memorial Medical Center while receiving advanced life support care by an attending flight paramedic and emergency medical technician, officials said.

Incident reports indicated the flight from Hana to Kahului took 12 minutes.

Officials with the Maui County Paramedics Association say it’s their goal to get stroke patients to the hospital within an hour of the onset of their symptoms, so that patients may be treated aggressively.

“Doing so greatly improves the chances of patients avoiding long term and irreversible brain damage,” said paramedics spokesperson Ryan Joslin.

Medics remind the public that when in doubt, those experiencing stroke symptoms should call 911. There is no cost for an ambulance crew to respond to a location for a detailed medical assessment.

“Anyone suffering an unusual and sudden onset of headaches, dizziness, vision problems, slurred speech or numbness and paralysis to one side of the body should call 911 as soon as they recognize these symptoms without any delay. The longer the delay to definitive treatment, the greater the damage that might occur to brain tissue,” said Joslin.  “Time is tissue,” he said.