AMR opens first station in Hanalei to increase response times for North Shore communities

American Medical Response has opened its first station in Hanalei after 3 months of meticulous planning.

The new station is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year. It includes an advanced life support ambulance to support Garden Isle residents and visitors alike.

Before the new station opened in Hanalei, the closest ambulance was about 9 miles and 20 minutes away in Kīlauea.

“This remote area needs its own station and that has already been proved,” said American Medical Response and Hawaiʻi Life Flight Regional Director Tiffany Lightfoot Allen in an announcement about the new station’s opening. “We opened the station a little before noon on May 20, and in less than 24 hours, we saved a life.”

The new station — near the heart of downtown Hanalei — is located within the Hale Hālāwai complex, close to Waiʻoli Beach Park, also known as Pine Trees, which in the past served as an emergency helicopter drop site.

There now are a total of 6 ambulance stations on Kauaʻi with the addition of the Hanalei station, completing the American Medical Response network of service for the entire island.

“This station doesn’t just cover Hanalei,” American Medical Response Kauaʻi Operations Manager Tito Villanueva said in the station announcement. “The range for this station is from Moloa‘a to Hāʻena and completes coverage on the east side.”

American Medical Response has provided Hawaiʻi with quality emergency medical services and non-emergency ambulance transportation for more than 30 years.

The emergency medical services firm offers standby service and onsite emergency care at special events throughout the islands and medical air transport within the islands and to the mainland. It also provides primary 9-1-1 service and interfacility transfers in Maui and Kauaʻi counties along with secondary 9-1-1 services on Oʻahu and on the Big Island.

Critical care ground transports, mobile health care, continued medical education and community training is a function of American Medical Response on Oʻahu as well.