Missing Hospital Patient Found Unharmed in Waters off Kaua‘i

On Friday, first responders located a missing 40-year-old Kaua‘i man in waters off Kaiākea Point in Keālia, Kaua‘i.

No injuries were reported.

The County of Kaua‘i stated in a news release Saturday, March 12 that first responders were dispatched to search for a missing swimmer off waters at Kaiākea Point in Keālia at approximately 4:10 p.m. Personnel from the Kaiākea fire station, the Ocean Safety Bureau’s North and East Roving Ski Patrol, Keālia lifeguards, the Kaua‘i Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, American Medical Response, and Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 responded to the incident.

According to a preliminary report, a patient from Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital apparently escaped the facility and jumped into the ocean near the vicinity of Kaiākea Point in Keālia.

First responders arrived on scene where the man apparently jumped. Rescuers later relocated to Keālia Beach, near the river mouth. A first responder on a rescue board entered the water and searched the area where the man was last spotted. Meanwhile, Ocean Safety Bureau East Roving Ski Patrol personnel launched from the Kapa‘a Lihi. Kaiākea firefighters were then stationed in the vicinity of the river mouth and surveyed from a hill. Keālia lifeguards conducted a shoreline search from Keālia Beach to the area known as Pineapple Dump.

As Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 was deployed, Kaiākea firefighters relocated to Kamole Road for a better vantage point of the search.

At approximately 5:55 p.m., the North Roving Ski Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived on scene. At approximately 6 p.m., a helicopter with the U.S. Coast Guard was deployed.

At approximately 6:50 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard reported that the missing man was found approximately 2 miles north off waters at Kaiākea Point, where he was last seen. The Wailua man was transported to Nāwiliwili Small Board Harbor, where he was met by family members and Kaua‘i Police Department personnel. The man was cleared at Wilcox Medical Center before returning to Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital.

First responders cleared the scene at approximately 7 p.m.