Vaifanua Representative Shaun Vaa has pleaded for a solution to help save lives for people of his district.
He said a family in his district called for an ambulance Wednesday morning, but was told that there are only two ambulances serving the whole territory. He said the family doesn’t have a vehicle and, luckily, they received help in transporting their family member to the hospital. The patient is reported to be doing well, but Vaa said the eastern district desperately needs to have an ambulance based on that side of the island to prevent loss of lives.
He said if an ambulance is based at the Fagaitua substation, this would shorten the time of response for calls from the east side.
Vaa also renewed his call for the substation at Fagaitua to be reopened. The Chairman of the Public Safety and Search and Rescue Committee, Rep. Avagafono Vaimaga Maiava said these matters will be discussed at a hearing of their committee with DPS and the Department of Search and Rescue.
He said the committee will ask for an inventory of the EMS units, as it was his understanding that more ambulances were acquired in recent years. In addition, he emphasized, he was also timely to request that DPS re-open the Fagaitua substation for quick response to incidents in villages on the far eastern end of Tutuila.
