Bank of Hawaii granted $15,000 to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation for the purchase two all-terrain vehicles for Punaluu Beach and Hapuna Beach State Park. The ATVs have the capability to quickly carry life-saving equipment and supplies to drowning victims and spinal cord injury victims quickly, which assists in the life-saving measures provided by Hawaii County Fire Department.
The gifting of the ATVs was held Wednesday at the Hapuna Beach State Park pavilion. Present were Bank of Hawaii Vice Presidents Roberta Chu and Art Taniguchi, Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre from the Daniel Sayre Memorial Foundation, Fire Chief Darren Rosario and Battalion Chief in charge of Special Operations and Rescue Gerald Kosaki. Ocean safety officers and committee members from the Daniel Sayre Memorial Foundation also took part in the gifting ceremony.
Each year, Hawaii Island residents and visitors find themselves in harm’s way at our beaches. The difference between saving a life and losing a life is dependent not only on the training of ocean safety officers, but also on the equipment provided for them.
State Department of Health epidemiologist Dan Galanis completed a review of deaths and injuries in Hawaii from 2003 to 2013 and shared this data in a 2013 presentation titled “Visitor Safety: How are We Doing?” His findings between 2003 and 2012 showed that Hawaii lost 256 residents and 820 visitors to drowning. In this ten-year period, Hawaii Island lost the greatest number of residents to drowning and was second in the state for nonresidents drownings.
Near drownings accounted for 46 percent of nonfatal injuries resulting in hospitalization among nonresidents while an additional 63 nonresidential hospitalizations occurred from ocean-related activities. Approximately 48 percent of hospitalization of nonresidents during this time frame occurred in ocean-related accidents.
The leading cause of spinal cord injuries in Hawaii from 2009 through 2012 was from ocean activities. Hapuna Beach ranked the third highest in the state and Laaloa Beach Park, also known as Magic Sands Beach, ranked fifth.
The Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation is a volunteer-run, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing essential equipment and training to the Hawaii County Fire Department.
A second gifting ceremony was held Wednesday at the North Hawaii Rotary Club meeting in Waimea. The Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation was presented a $1,000 grant by the Rotary Club to purchase a rescue winch. This grant, along with a donation from Carl and Mary Fisher of Waimea, helped to secure the essential piece of equipment for the Waimea Fire Station. Present at the ceremony were North Hawaii Rotary Club members, Capt. Bill Bergin and personnel from the Waimea Fire Station, Rosario, Kosaki, Sayre, Mallery-Sayre and committee members from the Sayre Foundation.