Airports

Active Shooter Presentation Peaks Interest, Concerns

It was a full house for the Active Shooter Tabletop Presentation held Dec. 5 at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International ARFF station. Airline carriers, car rental tenants and even other government agencies learned of incidents that resulted in mass casualties.

By: Rae Nguyen

Presenter David Bell, Assistant Airport Superintendent and Airport Tactical Officer Dave Sommers posted grim stats that included limited beds at the local hospital and varied response times from Hawaii County PD.

From left: Airport Police Dave Sommers, Asst. Airport Superintendent David Bell, retired Hawaii Fire Capt. Sean Sommers and Civil Defense Officer Josh Black

“Depending on circumstances, HPD may not have enough time to get to us,” said Sommers.

“Police would also need to take care of the rest of the community and can’t pool all their resources to just one location.” The tabletop also served as a think tank with attendees divvied up into groups and sharing their initial emergency response. Ideas and suggestions would then be taken back to their respective employers to implement into their emergency safety plan.

Another tabletop exercise is planned for early next year.

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according to the Associated Press. The United States in 2019 reported its highest number of cases in 25 years, and last year protracted outbreaks caused four European countries where measles had been eliminated to lose that status, the World Health Organization reported this month.

The partnership between HDOT, the state Department of Health and CDC matured about 10 years ago because avian flu was going around, and the relationship has been “pretty robust” since then, according to Ireland. “It all started with (figuring out) how to screen passengers for avian flu and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) when that was a concern,” Ireland said. “Now we have procedures ready for everything, so to speak.”

Ireland said the current measles outbreak isn’t quite as concerning compared to other communicable diseases that have been in circulation, like SARS, ebola or avian flu, because many in Hawaii are already vaccinated for measles.

“Hawaii has high vaccination rates with pockets of people in the counties that don’t vaccinate,” Ireland said. “With these high vaccination rates, if measles were to be introduced, most people wouldn’t get it.”

Airports

Also on Maui, our team has held community meetings regarding the Kahului Airport runway reconstruction project, which includes constructing a temporary runway that is parallel to the current runway so all operations can continue uninterrupted.

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We also have worked with the USDA Wildlife Services program and the DLNR to protect the nene goose from bird strikes. The program implemented the use of border collies to safely relocate the endangered geese away from the runway areas and has been successful.

Statewide, our sustainability projects are helping the environment and saving money with the installation of 24,700 solar panels, HVAC and transformer upgrades and the replacement of all light fixtures with LED’s.

In total, the $200 million investment is guaranteed to save more than $600 million over the 20-year life of the contract. It is the largest investment in energy savings of any state in the country.

The terminal modernization project at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole is nearing completion.

This project will centralize the security checkpoint and the baggage handling system to add greater efficiency for staff and the traveling public.

Our team in Kona also continues work on the permanent Federal Inspection Station (FIS) which will benefit our international travelers.

The FIS is designed to meet the latest US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Airport Technical Design Standards for Passenger Processing facilities.

In Hilo, restrooms on the ground floor are slated to begin renovation in July 2020.

At Lihue Airport, planter boxes fronting the ticket lobby will be demolished to enlarge the ticketing and queuing space starting in June 2020.

I am proud of the work the Airports Division has accomplished and look forward to many more improvements that will help move our Airports System forward over the course of the new year.

Together we are renovating and building facilities we can all be proud of.

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!!!

Airports

35th Recruiting Class Graduation Adds Firefighters to County of Maui Dept. of Public Safety and SOH ARFF

By: Martinez Jacobs

County of Maui Department of Public Safety and State of Hawaii Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Joint Training Center 35th Recruit Class Graduation at Maui Beach Hotel.

The rigorous 22-week Fire Recruit training initiated on August 2, 2019 through December 27, 2019 Recruit Training Program. All recruits upon graduation received the Pro Board various certification leavels

Pro Board Professional Certification

• NFPA 1001 Fire Fighter I • NFPA 1001 Fire Fighter II • NFPA 1072 Hazardous Materials Awareness • NFPA 1072 Hazardous Materials Operations • First Responder Emergency Medical

Note: The (10) ARFF personnel will remain on 40-hour work week from December 27 to January 10, 2020 to receive 80-hours of Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Professional Certificate. Thereafter, each will be assigned to 56-hour work week at various ARFF stations. Kahului Airport

Keoki Lovato Justin Manglallan Dennis Walsh Dave Walsh Dave Walin Keoni Rosete Kahone Speed

Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole

Charles Akao

Hilo International Airport

Travis Voeller

Lihue Airport Briggs Agu