How an automated phone call helped Kaua‘i Police Department save a life
How an automated phone call helped Kaua‘i Police Department save a life
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On the island of Kaua‘i, Hawaii, lush greenery and mountain streams stretch for more than 500 square miles. Much of Kaua‘i remains undeveloped, but even its most remote areas are overseen by the Kaua‘i Police Department (KPD), which serves as the only primary law enforcement agency on the island.
KPD is made up of 160 authorized staff members and only 72 patrol officers, despite the size of its jurisdiction. Officers are trained in various job functions so the department can support the same capacities as a larger agency, but on most days their work involves standard report writing and making calls for service. On June 24, 2024, however, three KPD officers were pushed out of their usual routine.
Axon Presents: Safe Journeys | Episode 10 - Kaua‘i, HI
Axon Presents: Safe Journeys | Episode 10 - Kaua‘i, HI
A Midnight SOS
Shortly after midnight, KPD dispatch received an alert that there had been a car accident near the rural community of Wainiha. The transmission included precise GPS details about the crash, enabling officers Matthew Kaluahine, Jesse Castro, and Acting Sergeant Jason Scalzo to quickly rush to the scene.
When the team arrived at the pinpointed GPS location, they saw a car 15 feet off the roadway, dangling on the edge of a cliff. The car was held up only by a tree and its wheels were still spinning. “Beyond the cliff, there was nothing but ocean,” Lieutenant Stacy Perreira recalled. The three responding officers had to act fast.
Cliffside Rescue
Officer Kaluahine grabbed tow straps and started to rappel down the cliff. He was a highly trained member of KPD’s Special Response Team, but the darkness of night and slippery conditions combined with the car still in gear meant that any misstep could cause the vehicle to fall off the cliff and into the water below.
If you look into the ocean in that area, it's super rough. We’d be lucky to find anyone who falls in there.
When Kaluahine reached the driver’s side of the car, he found a man unresponsive inside and moved to quickly stabilize the vehicle with tow straps. His team then called the Kaua'i Fire Department for assistance with extraction. The driver’s life was saved, and the three officers received official commendations from the Kaua’i Police Department for their bravery.
Technology That Saved a Life
KPD’s late night rescue would not have been possible without the help of iPhone Crash Detection and RapidSOS technology. When an iPhone senses impact, Crash Detection sounds an alarm and displays an alert on the device. If a driver is unresponsive after 30 seconds, like in this case, the iPhone will automatically alert 911 of the accident and its location.
Due to the rural location of the crash, Lieutenant Stacy Perreira shared that “the person would not have been found” without that technology. In fact, when an iPhone’s location services are turned on, Crash Detection’s GPS transmission can pinpoint location with more accuracy than a standard 911 call.
I mean, what amazing technology to be able to notify the department about precarious situations, especially where lives are at stake. Fortunately, that automated call allowed my officers to locate that person and develop a plan to save a life.
Thanks to the bravery of Kaua‘i Police Department’s officers and intelligent 911 data, a life was saved that night.