Grant Allows Fire Department to Expand CPR Training

The Hawaii Fire Department has been named one of six recipients of HMSA Foundation grants.

The department’s Emergency Medical Services Bureau received $35,000 to expand its emergency response capabilities as well as its public outreach efforts.

The funding is supporting HFD’s paramedic students during their training by providing CPR training and raising awareness of stroke and cardiac emergencies, the foundation said in a press release.

The grant was part of $270,000 in grants from the Hawaii Medical Services Association’s foundation awarded to local health programs and community organizations for the second quarter of 2013.

Others grants and the recipients were:

• $100,000 for the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge Hawaii which gives neighbor island cancer patients and their caregivers free temporary housing when they travel to Honolulu for treatment.
• $50,000 for the Blood Bank of Hawaii which collects nearly 58,000 pints of blood annually and is the sole provider of blood products in Hawaii.
• $10,000 for Frank De Lima’s Student Enrichment Program which provides guidance to help students develop positive attitudes as they mature, and to recognize and resist negative influences including drugs, alcohol, smoking, peer pressure and bad nutrition.
• $25,000 for Help, Understanding & Group (HUGS) which has a visitation program that will bring staff and volunteers in contact with families of seriously ill children who are being tested or treated for their illness.
• $50,000 for Waikiki Health to establish the Makahiki Clinic provide patients and the community with increased access to oral health services.

The HMSA Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt private charitable organization founded in Hawaii in 1986, and converted in 1997 to a private foundation to allow for larger contributions from donors such as HMSA.

According to the foundation, health plan dues from HMSA members and employer groups are not used to fund grants which come from investment income earned on its endowment.