SR91 SD1

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Health in a May 23, 2007 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, statistics show that Hawaii has the second-highest resident drowning rate in the United States, and if drowning included visitors, Hawaii may lead the nation; and

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Health, in a June 18, 2006 article in The Honolulu Advertiser, seventy‑seven drownings occurred statewide in 2006, up from seventy-one in 2004, which previously was a fifteen-year high; the article quoted a Department of Health official as saying that the statistics definitely point to a lack of awareness, and most people would agree we need to do more education; and

WHEREAS, an August 26, 2006 article in The New York Times, stated that drowning claims far more lives in Hawaii than headline grabbing shark attacks, especially with Hawaii's coastlines of sand, coral reef, and lava rock creating shorebreaks and currents that cause many swimmers, even competent ones, to encounter entirely unexpected peril; and

WHEREAS, The Garden Island News in an article of January 1, 2008, reported that on August 5 and 6, 2007, there were a total of sixteen rescues in Kauai waters, ten visitors and six local people who were rescued from deadly rip currents during strong tradewind conditions; two Kapa‘a surfers had recently responded to someone on shore at Donkey Beach waiving frantically for help to rescue a Tennessee family of six all in severe distress in the water, with all six saved by the surfers but four landed up in the emergency room for aspirating seawater; the father stated that they had just arrived on Kauai to stay at a private residence and thus had no chance to be warned by hotel concierges or activities desk personnel; and

WHEREAS, it was further reported in The Honolulu Advertiser on January 30, 2007, that a key feature of a water safety warning program to protect visitors is information, and for years, lifeguards have been fighting a difficult battle to educate people about ocean hazards; many of them have launched their own individual efforts (often at their own expense) to warn visitors; and

WHEREAS, visitors to Hawaii often learn about an area from a guidebook; of particular concern to some is the issue of internet and travel guides that direct visitors, who are often inexperienced swimmers, to remote beaches, cliffs, and dive spots that may not have lifeguards; for example, on Oahu along the cliffs of Maunalua Bay in Hawaii Kai, drownings and rescues are a regular occurrence, despite warning signs, at two popular cliff-diving places, Spitting Caves and China Walls; and

WHEREAS, many interventions to prevent drowning have been undertaken to get information to visitors via airline water safety videos, hotel concierges, car rental companies, visitor information websites, and baggage claim videos; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has the responsibility, among other things, under section 201B-3(a)(21), Hawaii Revised Statutes, to establish a public information and educational program to inform the public of tourism and tourism‑related problems, which by reasonable interpretation includes the prevention of drowning; and

WHEREAS, section 201B-3(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, further provides that the Hawaii Tourism Authority shall do any and all things necessary to carry out its purposes and to exercise its powers and responsibilities under law; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that the Hawaii Tourism Authority is requested in cooperation and conjunction with the Department of Health, Honolulu Emergency Services Department, University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, and appropriate water safety organizations to furnish, as part of a multi-lingual information and education program, information for visitors on water safety and recreational hazards; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the information for visitors on water safety and recreational hazards be disseminated by the best means available to inform incoming visitors to Hawaii, whether by brochure or on-board video or other means such as website; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the point of dissemination include the incoming airline flights, hotel rooms, and Hawaii Superferry; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health, Honolulu Emergency Services Department, and the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology are requested to cooperate with and assist the Hawaii Tourism Authority in producing in composing the content of information for visitors on water safety and recreational hazards and multi-lingual dissemination thereto; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Department of Transportation is requested to work with the airlines on the dissemination of the information for visitors on water safety and recreational hazards, on all incoming flights to Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Hawaii Superferry is requested to disseminate to its passengers information for visitors on water safety and recreational hazards; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Tourism Authority disseminate this Senate Concurrent Resolution to every hotel in the State and every cruise ship company operating in Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the cruise industry inform its passengers of the information for visitors on water safety and recreational hazards; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health; Dean of the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Director of Transportation; Executive Director of the Hawaii Tourism Authority and each member of the Hawaii Tourism Authority; the Mayor and every councilmember of each county; Director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department of the City and County of Honolulu; the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Superferry; and the manager of Hawaii operations for Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Air, United Airlines, Continental Micronesia, TWA, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines, Jalways, All Nippon Airways, Air Japan, Jetstar, Korean Air, Philippines Airlines, Quantas Airways, WestJet, China Airlines, Omni Air International, US Airways, and America West.

Report Title:

Hawaii Tourism Authority; Visitor Drowning Education and Information

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	91
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII