The state prison system and the Honolulu Emergency Services Department have resolved a dispute over security at Oʻahu correctional facilities after the emergency services director warned last week medical crews would no longer enter jails or prisons to treat patients.
Honolulu Emergency Services Director Jim Ireland on Thursday sent a two-paragraph letter to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation warning that “effective immediately EMS will not be entering facilities and will receive patients outside, either at the gate or building.”
Ireland said in the letter the new policy was prompted by recent incidents at the Oʻahu Community Correctional Center and Hālawa Correctional Facility “where EMS crews did not have adequate prison staff in attendance for their safety.” Ireland did not describe those incidents in the letter.
But Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Shayne Enright said Tuesday that Ireland’s letter had been rescinded, and corrections officials said they are unaware of any incident where an EMS crew refused to enter a prison or jail to deal with a medical emergency.
EMS rescinded the letter after corrections officials guaranteed that an officer will be assigned to accompany EMS crews from the time they arrive at correctional facilities until they leave, Enright said.
Ireland said in a written statement Tuesday that “the well-being of our paramedics and EMTs is our top priority. And while we will always take care of our patients, we cannot go into a scene that is unsafe.”
“Our crews told us their safety was at risk inside prison facilities with violent individuals. I am not going to wait for something tragic to happen for changes to be made,” he said in the statement. “I am glad DCR agreed and assured us the safety of EMS and all first responders will be put first.”
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Tommy Johnson said in an interview Tuesday that EMS staff raised concerns after an incident earlier this month in the intake module at OCCC.
Johnson said the adult corrections officer or ACO assigned to escort the EMS crew “took a radio call and briefly stepped away while they were treating a patient, but there were other ACOs in the immediate area.”
The medical crew was never in any danger, but “that being said, the ACO shouldn’t have left them,” Johnson said.
He said he inquired about the mention of Hālawa prison in Ireland’s letter but never heard back.
“I am thankful that they rescinded the letter, the directive, because I believe that it’s inconsistent with the mission of the EMS and it would have placed our inmates and injured staff in potential jeopardy,” Johnson said.
DCR’s standard procedure already includes assigning escort officers to accompany EMT crews in the facilities, Johnson said. If a patient has to go to the hospital via ambulance, an armed corrections officer rides in the ambulance and remains with the patient at the hospital, he said.
“I wish that Dr. Ireland would have just picked up the phone and talked to me, director to director, because that’s how we could have solved this matter,” Johnson said.
He said Ireland and his deputies will be invited to an upcoming meeting of DCR facility wardens and their security chiefs so the correctional leadership can hear the concerns directly from the EMS leadership.
Civil Beat’s community health coverage is supported by the Atherton Family Foundation, Swayne Family Fund of Hawai‘i Community Foundation, the Cooke Foundation and Papa Ola Lōkahi.
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