In April 2018, Kauai was hit by unrelenting rain. Forty-nine inches fell in 24 hours, causing devastation across the remote Hawaiian island. Peter Beemer was home with his wife and three children when the storm hit. Peter was trapped behind landslides and watched his car and truck float away in the flood waters, but that didn’t stop him from responding. As the only paramedic on his side of the island, Peter coordinated medical operations that – in the words of emergency medical physician Dr. Erik Schumacher – “given the circumstances and available resources, left nothing to be desired.”
Peter’s family was evacuated; he spent nearly two weeks on site, helping his community recover. Peter provided wound care, disease and injury prevention education in the community, helped set up a walk-in clinic, did home visits and coordinated medication distribution. “Watching him was a lesson in mastery; it was as if he had done that before, many times,” recounted Dr. Schumacher. “He coordinated care that was truly impactful and, whether they know it or not, the residents of the north shore owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. I am proud to have somebody so capable on our team.”