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The false alarm of a missile threat had Maui County businesses and organizations activating emergency procedures, and some took what they learned and reviewed and adjusted those plans.
State Department of Education Superintendent Christina Kishimoto sent a letter out to parents last week, saying the incident had focused the department on its emergency preparations.
The Education Department has had meetings with Hawaii Emergency Management Agency officials about school shelter-in-place planning and procedures for a ballistic missile threat, she said.
Parents and guardians were advised to shelter in place as well and avoid picking up their children at school if the warning comes during the school day, the letter said.
"While it is extremely difficult to adhere to this advisement, please know that this is in the best interest of your children," Kishimoto said.
She added that the shelter-in-place drill is one of five annual emergency exercises practiced at schools.
In an event of a real emergency, the department's website and social media accounts would post information.
The focus on emergency preparedness during a missile strike follows the erroneous Jan. 13 cellphone alert about a ballistic missile attack that came from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency based on Oahu. The false alarm happened at 8:07 a.m. during a shift change at the agency when an employee hit a live alert button.
It took 38 minutes for the agency to send out a statewide retraction after the initial alert. Some learned it was a false alarm earlier through social media.
For Maui Health System, which operates Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital, medical teams continued to provide patient care, and all three hospitals remained open while emergency response procedures were implemented, said Chastell Ely, spokeswoman for the system, a subsidiary of Kaiser Permanente.
"We received an influx of phone calls, mostly staff wanting to know if they should report to assist. Our administrator on call did begin activation of the hospital command center, which is standard procedure for disaster response," Ely said. "The biggest problem we encountered (Jan. 13) was conflicting reports between the alert notification being an error and an actual event."
Ely added that during a disaster, additional staff may be requested, but staff should only report when it is safe to travel.
As for maintaining hospital supplies if shelter in place is necessary, Ely said that, based on the hospital's current emergency operations plan, all units should maintain adequate assets and resources to provide essential hospital services during an incident-emergency-recovery for a minimum of at least 96 hours, or four days.
Lisa Paulson, executive director of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association, said each of its member hotels has its own emergency plans, with many developed by hotels' corporate offices.
During the false alarm, most hotels evacuated their guests to ballrooms or meeting rooms, she said.
Paulson is part of Maui's Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Operations Center, and she would forward any pertinent information to hotels during emergency situations.
She was able to do so on Jan. 13. She added that she was able to email her members "that it was a false alarm before the state sent their messaging out."
Paulson said that Maui's Emergency Management Agency is working closely with her organization and hotels to provide additional planning and preparedness documents as soon as they're available.
Queen Ka'ahumanu Center, one of Maui's largest shopping malls, has emergency plans in place, and officials activated it on Jan. 13. This involved alerting merchants, via text, voice and email messages about the warning. Center management advised merchants to close and seek shelter, said Toni Rojas, the center's marketing director.
"As we have all learned from the state level down, a lot of companies and organizations are continuing to enhance their missile preparedness (plans)," she said. "We are doing that as well, enhancing what we have already in place."
At a recent meeting following the false alarm, Rojas said there was discussion about having food and water to last for days and possibly dealing with large amounts of people at the center.
Rojas said if shoppers were at the mall during a missile attack, they could stay and assemble at center court where the entertainment stage is located. She said the mall has a dedicated concrete enclosed location where the public will be sheltered.
But Rojas said individual businesses may have their own policies about how emergencies are handled in their stores.
On Jan. 13, Rojas said most of the mall remained closed when the alert went out, although there were some customers and merchants at the center. After the all-clear signal came, the mall was able to open at its regular time at 9:30 a.m.
Officials at one of Maui's larger retailers, Target, said the store is focused on creating a safe and secure shopping environment for its guests.
After the false alarm, a shopper told The Maui News that people were told to leave when the alert initially went off.
"When the false missile alert was issued last weekend, our store leaders worked quickly to take care of our team members and guests in the midst of an unprecedented situation," said spokeswoman Danielle Schumann in an email statement.
"We apologize for any confusion that may have been created. Like many retailers, we're evaluating our safety procedures and have been in contact with emergency management teams to understand what happened and learn from the situation."
Maui County Communications Director Rod Antone said the county's plan for a missile strike is for employees to shelter in place, whether it is at work or home.
Some Department of Water Supply employees were working when the false missile alert went off, he said.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
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EMERGENCY SUPPLY KIT
• Water, 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking and sanitation
• Nonperishable food
• Battery-powered or hand-cranked radio
• Flashlight
• First-aid kit
• Extra batteries
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener for food
• Local maps
• Glasses and contact lens solution
• Cellphone with
chargers and a backup battery
• Prescription and nonprescription medications, such as pain relievers
• Infant formula, bottles, diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream
• Pet food and extra water for pets
• Cash or traveler's checks
• Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records saved electronically or in a waterproof, portable container
• Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person
• A complete change of clothing and sturdy shoes
A Hawaii official recommended having a two-week supply kit for emergencies such as hurricanes. For a full list and more information, visit www.ready.gov/
build-a-kit.