Navy Region Hawaii Firefighters Save Patient Thanks to Quick Thinking and Muscle Memory

Minutes later more firefighters arrived at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Leilehua Golf Course Road where the ambulance had stopped to deliver care. One firefighter took over driving the ambulance while the other rotated into the strenuous work of keeping the man alive.

By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the patient was awake and his skin tone improved, a sign of what would become the final diagnosis on that day – a man’s life was saved.

For their swift response, exceptional delivery of care and devotion to duty, Rear Adm. Stephen Barnett, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, presented civilian firefighters Francis Aurellano, Jonathan Akaka, and Triston Souza with Certificates of Life Saving on Feb. 19, 2025. Firefighter Joshua Lombard was assigned to a new duty station in Germany and was not present to receive his certificate. All four firefighters were assigned to Fire Station 14 on Wheeler Army Airfield when they performed their heroic duties.

A paramedic, Aurellano serves as the lead first responder on the scene for patient care and is trained to intubate, deliver automated defibrillations and administer about 20 different types of medications including controlled substances. He described the action-packed 5-minute transport.

“Everything just changed all of a sudden, a fast type of treatment with positive results,” Aurellano recalled. “When we got to the hospital, I saw all the treatment going on because I was in the back [of the ambulance]. I think we shocked the patient two times. We got his heart beating again, and he was coming around looking dazed.”

Akaka, who jumped in and assisted with bag valve mask ventilations on the day of the eventful transport, credits the seamless cooperation among his team for the positive outcome.

“We train for it a lot, code, CPR cases, so when we do actually get it, it’s smooth,” he said. “We all know what to do. It’s not — what should I be doing? It’s — what’s not being done? I can just do that. So everything falls into place.”

Akaka has worked as a Navy Region Hawaii firefighter since February 2023. He was inspired to become a firefighter by his dad, Godfrey Akaka, who worked for the Honolulu Fire Department before joining and retiring from the Federal Fire Department. Akaka’s older brother, David Akaka, also works for the Federal Fire Department.

Souza, the firefighter who took over driving the ambulance during the November transport, explained that dealing with frequent high stakes situations can be stressful, so the Navy Region Fire Department proactively manages team member stress by providing resources to help firefighters cope more effectively with the demands of their profession.

“We have our own peer support group within the department” Souza said. “They help deal with these kind of high stress, critical incidents. They come out, they talk to us, talk about the calls, pretty much say anything that we feel that's weighing us down.”

Souza became a firefighter after seeing the camaraderie between his uncle, Keoki Fujimoto, a firefighter with the Honolulu Fire Department, and his firefighter team. Souza earned a fire science associate degree from Honolulu Community College in 2021 and joined the Navy Region Fire Department in 2022.

Charles A. Volhein, captain of Fire Station 14, said Navy Region Hawaii firefighters set the standard for what it means to be a firefighter.

“It shows that the training, the dedication and the effort that they put forth and the promise that they have made, not just to themselves and their family, but to the community and the families that we protect daily, that they followed through on that promise and they made a difference for that person that day, and it just shows that everything that they have done up until that point has paid off,” Volhein said. “It reinforces their belief of why they wanted to become a firefighter.”