Honolulu Emergency Medical Services is taking three ambulances out of service while it investigates the cause of an explosion that killed a patient and burned a paramedic.
A memo from the EMS said three rigs similar to the one that burned will all be idled while a consultant hired to look into the fire completes its investigation, KHON reports.
Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, said his members were pleased with the decision. The union had urged its members to not ride on ambulances until a cause was found. Taking the similar ambulances out of service answers the union’s concerns.
The investigation into the cause will focus on the oxygen system in the ambulance, including the way patients are transferred to portable oxygen when paramedics are getting them ready to transfer from the rig to the hospital, KHON reported.
Fred Kaneshiro, 91, was being transported in the ambulance when it exploded on Aug. 24 fire outside Adventist Health Castle hospital. He died in the fire. Paramedic Jeff Wilkinson was critically injured.
