The Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaii recognized Puna Patrol Officer Joshua Baumgarner on Monday as the East Hawaii “Officer of the Year” and Fire EMS Captain Chris Honda as “Firefighter of the Year.”
Baumgarner, who began solo patrol duty in April 2016, was honored for saving the life of a woman who would have bled to death without his aid.
Honda, a member of the Fire Department since 2000, was honored for improving cardiac arrest survival rates on Hawaii Island.
On Sept. 23, Baumgarner was among the police officers who responded to a home in the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision to find a 29-year-old woman bleeding profusely after punching a glass window during a domestic dispute. The woman’s husband and young children were frantic at the scene, where the husband was unsuccessfully attempting to stem the bleeding.
Baumgarner quickly took action. He applied direct pressure to the woman’s affected artery, elevated her feet to concentrate remaining blood in her vital organs, and reassured her to prevent shock. He was successful in stopping the bleeding, and he continued to maintain constant pressure on the artery until Fire Department rescue personnel arrived on the scene about 8-10 minutes later. The woman was taken to the hospital and survived her injuries.
Sergeant Chris Correia, who nominated Baumgarner for the award, noted that the officer had training as a combat medic in the Hawaii Army National Guard.
“Officer Baumgarner’s background in the medical field, as well as his calm demeanor in providing and maintaining first aid treatment saved the life of a gravely injured person,” Correia wrote in nomination papers.
Baumgarner was named “Officer of the Month” in November for the same incident.
The Fire Department’s honoree, Captain Honda, was promoted to his current position as a Fire Medical Specialist III, or EMS Captain, with the EMS Bureau in August 2012. He is the Fire Department’s lead in high performance CPR training, the community hands only CPR training in schools project, and the Pilot HPD AED response program.
Since inception, more than 9,000 persons have been trained in “hands only” CPR. In that time, cardiac arrest survivor rates improved from 4 percent in 2014 to more than 10 percent in 2016. In 2016, 19 out of 197 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims walked out of the hospital neurologically intact.
One such success story involved several students who participated in and helped instruct the hands only CPR training at Waiakea High School. They performed hands nly CPR on a friend who collapsed in cardiac arrest off campus while playing basketball. Because of their training, the students were able to resuscitate their classmate, who later recovered in time to graduate with his class as the valedictorian.
During his time off, Honda can be found on the baseball field as a volunteer coach, mentoring youth on the values of hard work, commitment, sacrifice, integrity and teamwork.
Hawaii County Council Member Susan Lee Loy, from left, Firefighter of the Year EMS Captain Chris Honda, East Hawaii Officer of the Yea’ Puna Patrol Officer Joshua Baumgarner, Prosecuting Attorney Mitch Roth, and Senator Kaialii Kahele. (Courtesy photo)