Kaua‘i Fire responds to sick hikers on Kalalau Beach

Personnel with the Kaua‘i Fire Department responded to multiple calls for rescue over the weekend, involving hikers who reported being sick while hiking the Kalalau Trail.

The first report came in at 2:25 p.m. at Kalalau Beach on Saturday. According to a preliminary report, when Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 arrived at the Kalalau Beach landing zone, they found a hiker who reported being sick and weak.

Officials say the hiker declined transport via Air 1 and said he would hike out or solicit a ride from a boat.

The scene was cleared shortly after 3:35 p.m.

The second incident involved a 32-year-old female visitor who also reported being sick. According to a preliminary report, KFD personnel received a report of a sick female in Kalalau at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

First responders arrived on scene at the Kalalau Beach landing zone at approximately 8:50 a.m. and discovered the female, who reported being sick after drinking water in the area.

The hiker was transported to a landing zone at Waimea Athletic Field to awaiting personnel from the Waimea Fire Station and American Medical Response. AMR personnel continued with advanced treatment on the hiker before transporting her to Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital in stable condition.

The scene was cleared shortly before 9:15 a.m.

The Kalalau Trail is closed for the next seven days following a suspected norovirus outbreak among campers. Since Aug. 14, the Department of Health received reports of acute gastrointestinal illness (nausea, vomiting and diarrhea) from 24 people who hiked the Kalalau Trail. One was evacuated but no one has been hospitalized.

On Wednesday, a team of officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement will fly to the wilderness park, with one to be stationed at Hanakāpīʻai, to inform hikers of the closure between there and Kalalau. Two others will hike into Kalalau to check on the welfare of campers still at the site and call for further medical assistance if needed.