Helicopter ambulance joins fleet

HILO » Hawaii Air Ambulance, a private company providing patient transportation service, has added a helicopter to its fleet of five ambulance planes operating statewide, company spokesman Eric Niven said.

The Eurocopter EC135 is to be blessed today at the Kona Community Hospital helipad. It will be permanently stationed at Kona Airport.

The helicopter would normally carry a single stretcher but can carry two in an emergency.

West Hawaii already is home to a medical helicopter operated by the Hawaii County Fire Department. That aircraft is stationed in South Kohala, near resorts, about 20 miles northeast of the airport.

The two aircraft will serve different functions, Niven said. The county helicopter will respond to 911 calls and carry patients to a hospital.

The Hawaii Air Ambulance helicopter will come into play if a patient has to be transported between hospitals, especially from the Big Island to Oahu.

The Eurocopter cost $7 million, Niven said. The company spent another $600,000 converting it from a corporate aircraft to one suited for medical use, he said.

Renovated Birth Center to be blessed

A blessing ceremony will be held today for Castle Medical Center's Birth Center, renovated at a cost of $1.2 million.

Gifts last year from the Zilber Foundation and Dr. Eleanor Crim were combined with other charitable contributions and funds raised at the hospital's annual golf tournament for the renovation project.

The Birth Center averages 70 births per month and more than 800 a year, the hospital said in a news release. Births have increased about 10 to 12 percent the past four years, according to Tina Johnson, nurse manager.

The new Vera Zilber Birth Center and Eleanor Crim Nursery includes a new, secure entrance; four new large rooms, for a total of 10, for labor, delivery and recovery; and new rooms that accommodate mother and baby and have a wide bed for the father to stay overnight.

Young monk seal ready to go wild

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Corps Base Hawaii and the Coast Guard were to airlift KP2, an abandoned Hawaiian monk seal pup, to an undisclosed location today for release into the wild.

The seal pup was supposed to be released Thursday, but last week's heavy rain postponed the plan.

The monk seal was abandoned on a Kauai beach by its mother in May when it was 1 day old. It spent its first few months under care at NOAA's Kewalo Research Facility as the pup gained weight. It was transferred to a shore pen at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, where it has been learning to survive in the wild.