By Ian Bauer
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
HONOLULU 鈥� Once part of TheBus fleet, the aging vehicle will now work as part the city鈥檚 Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement, or CORE, program.
As such, CORE workers will drive the bus to encampments, parks, beaches and surrounding areas to identify, evaluate and transport the unsheltered to the city鈥檚 Leahi or Aala respite center and shelter, when homeless people agree to accept such help, city officials said Tuesday.
Formerly used to assist with mass casualty incidents, the latest incarnation of the bus will be able to transport up to 29 people, either on medical stretchers or in regular bus seats, to those shelters or centers, they said.
Staffed with two to three emergency medical technicians, the bus is outfitted with medical equipment as well, and will assist in keeping EMS resources available for medical emergencies, officials say.
In addition, the bus will carry other specialty items, including clean used clothing, adult diapers and other hygiene supplies. It will also have kennels for pets.
The CORE bus will deploy once a week in the first phase of operations, city officials said.
鈥淎s a city, we are committed to finding innovative ways to address homelessness and support our most vulnerable residents, 鈥� Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a statement. 鈥淭he CORE bus is a great example of how we can re-purpose existing resources to bring essential services directly to those in need.鈥�
Honolulu Emergency Services Director Jim Ireland agreed.
鈥淏ig problems need big solutions but not necessarily expensive solutions. This is a retired city bus with roughly 1.7 million miles on it, but it can still be put to good use, 鈥� said Ireland. 鈥淚f someone needs medical attention, they will be able to lay flat on a stretcher safely and receive care on their way to a respite center.鈥�
At a news conference Tuesday morning outside City Hall, HESD Deputy Director Ian Santee told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the bus will supplement CORE鈥檚 existing fleet of two ambulances and four SUVs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost the same as when we do our regular outreach, 鈥� Santee said, adding the bus will be brought out 鈥渨hen we find a group of people at a massive encampment or gathering that are all willing. 鈥� It actually improves the efficiency of the city to take a group rather than one, two, three, four, five, six.鈥�
Based on the latest Point in Time Count data released in May, the number of homeless people on Oahu increased for the second year in a row鈥攖o 4, 494 in January鈥攚ith the greatest increase among those considered 鈥渦nsheltered, 鈥� meaning they were not staying in homeless shelters.
On the bus Tuesday, city Community Services Director Anton Krucky told reporters that there are 鈥減robably 2, 000 homeless people 鈥� living on the streets of Oahu.
鈥淕ot another 2, 000 to 2, 500 in shelters, give or take, 鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it fluctuates.鈥�
Krucky noted that in the near future the city plans to open a command center where it can track the location of homeless people. That information, he added, will be tracked in real-time.
鈥淪o when a bus like this goes around, they can tell which shelters have openings, what type of shelters they are鈥攊f it takes dogs, or its females-only, or medical, 鈥� Krucky said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檒l be able to see that in real-time (including ) HPD.鈥�
Under such a command center, he said, the city will start to analyze where the homeless people 鈥渁re and who they are, what their needs are.鈥�
He added that this data鈥攍argely gleaned via caseworkers on the ground鈥攚ill be funneled to the command center to allow the city to make decisions regarding the island鈥檚 homeless population overall.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just to analyze and 鈥楬ere鈥檚 what we have鈥�; it鈥檚 if we have this 鈥榃hat do you do? What鈥檚 your strategy? How do we put together the resources to address this area ?鈥欌�� Krucky said.
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