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INDEX
VOL. 47, NO. 251
18 PAGES
KONAWAENA
TOPS HILO 34-27
SPORTS, 1B
From lost to found:
Crowds turn out for slack key festival
It’s perhaps every engaged or
married couple’s worst night-
mare: A vacation or a trip to
the beach ruined when a ring
— sometimes worth thousands
of dollars — goes missing. Yet,
in Hawaii, perhaps hundreds
of rings are misplaced this way
each year, lost at sea after a
frolic in the waves or dropped
in the sand when beach towels
are moved.
“When people get cold — like
when they go in the sea — their
hands shrink a little bit,” said
Kailua-Kona resident Sylvie
Madison, who along with hus-
band Brent, operate Big Island
Metal Detecting. “If they have
a lot of sunscreen on, it’s just a
recipe for disaster.”
After frantic searches that
rarely return results, most
owners give up hope of ever
seeing their jewelry again.
But several metal detecting
enthusiasts around the state
are offering their services and
equipment, and can be com-
missioned for a targeted search.
The Madisons moved to
Hawaii Island from Phuket,
Thailand, and began offering
metal detecting services a lit-
tle over two months ago. Their
company, Big Island Metal
Detecting, is the only profes-
sional company offering such
services on Hawaii Island, and
is part of an international net-
work of similarly minded metal
detecting enthusiasts called
The Ring Finders.
The Ring Finders requires its
memberstohaveatleastoneyear
of metal detecting experience
and just four other companies
The 23rd annual
Hawaiian Slack Key
Guitar Festival took
place on Sunday at the
Sheraton Kona Resort
& Spa at Keauhou Bay.
The lineup included
notable artists such
as LT Smooth, John
Keawe, Brother Noland
Keale and more.
Slack key lovers
braved the heat and
threat of rain to listen
to the smooth sounds
of guitar and ukulele
carry through the air.
For information
about the “Kona
Style” Festival, visit
slackkeyfestival.com.
MEGHAN MINER
SPECIAL TOWEST HAWAII TODAY
BY LAURA SHIMABUKU
WEST HAWAII TODAY
HONOLULU — A Kauai
man is suing his health
insurer over a $36,000 air
ambulance bill — a case that
illustrates the high costs of
emergency air transport,
which is essential for people
living on the neighbor
islands.
On islands where there
are limited health care
services and specialists,
it’s common to transport
patients to Honolulu on
flights.
There are two Hawaii
air ambulance providers,
but one company charges
thousands
of
dollars
more, the Honolulu Star-
Advertiser eported Monday.
Hawaii Life Flight sets
its rates at an “industry
standard,” said Shanon
Pollock, vice president of
business development for
its parent company, Air
Medical Resource Group,
based in South Jordan,
Utah. A Hawaii Life
Flight bill for emergency
transportation from Hilo
to Oahu in December 2013
totaled nearly $71,000. It
listed base rate of about
$16,000 and a mileage
charge of about $54,000.
The same flight on
AMR Air Hawaii would be
about $20,000. AMR said
it charges a base rate of
$14,000 per flight and $25
per mile.
Rates skyrocketed after
Hawaii Life Flight merged
with AirMed Hawaii in
2010, said Speedy Bailey,
general manager of AMR,
which entered the market
in 2013.
Air ambulance companies
are required to transport
patients regardless of their
ability to pay. States are
prohibited from regulating
air ambulance rates.
Toby Sidlo filed the
class-action lawsuit after
falling into a bonfire last
year during a beach football
game. The lawsuit filed
in July claims Kaiser is
responsible for paying the
charges. Doctors decided to
fly him to a Honolulu burn
care unit for treatment.
Kaiser
declined
to
comment
on
pending
litigation.
State Sen. Josh Green, a
Kohala Hospital emergency
room doctor, said doctors
select the company that can
transport the patient the
quickest.
“I never favor one over
the other based on costs,” he
said. “I have to make sure
the patient doesn’t have a
tragic outcome.”
Ai r
ambu l ance
companies have to charge
high rates to make up for
their low reimbursement
rates from most patients,
said the Association of Air
Medical Services, based in
Virginia.
Costly air
ambulance
bills
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEE
DETECTORS
PAGE 8A
HIGHLIGHTS
NEIGHBOR ISLAND
ISSUE
Guests find a shadey place to sit and listen to the 23rd Annual
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival Sunday at the Sheraton
Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay.
Brother Noland
jams at the Festival
Sunday. Photos by
LAURA SHIMABUKU/
WEST
HAWAII TODAY
PROFESSIONAL ‘RING FINDERS’ REUNITE OWNERS WITH LOST JEWELRY
Also during August, Big Island Metal Detecting helped another visiting family locate two rings — including a 2.75-
carat diamond ring — lost in the water at Keokea Beach Park in North Kohala.
PHOTO COURTESY BIG ISLAND METAL DETECTING/
SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
