Aside from money, however, Dr. Wong’s real stroke of brilliance was the recruitment of an exceptional lady to serve as Mobile Intensive Care Technician (paramedic) Instructor. Reta Pozzi, R.N., a native of Canada, was "semi-retired" and enjoying the many pleasures of Hawaii when asked to accept the challenge. With great reluctance, she agreed to take on a job which would earn her the undying loyalty and devotion of those who earned their way through her course.

Always dignified, svelte and tan, the attractive Ms. Pozzi soon became known to her trainees by an unlikely handle—"Mother." A skills and knowledge perfectionist, she subjected them to challenges unknown to most paramedics. With uncommon patience and understanding, she fathomed the culture of her inscrutable trainees. Slowly but certainly, she combated the traditional Polynesian laid-back attitudes to encourage assertiveness in emergency care. At the same time she turned the key of knowledge for the "haoles" in her classes (mainland Caucasians who had moved to the islands).

As any paramedic instructor knows, the first class is the toughest. This was particularly true in the early days. The process was partly exploration, partly organization, and partly information. Gaps, holes and wrinkles tend to pop up on a frequent basis. Very few instructors have weathered this task without the need for some recuperation before facing the next class of trainees.

Dr. Wong elected to send Reta Pozzi to Los Angeles for her period of "rest and recuperation." The official goal was to have her check out the L.A. program and compare it to paramedic training and operations in Honolulu. For several days, fire department and EMS officials in L.A. gave Ms. Pozzi the official tour. Few understood the enigmatic smile she wore through most of that excursion.

It was much later that folks in L.A. learned the reason for Reta Pozzi’s apparent contentment. The L.A. inspection left her convinced that the Hawaiian paramedic training program was as good as any. It had been her first course of many to follow. She was to become "Mother" to hundreds.

In the subsequent years, Reta Pozzi has gone without vacations, never bothered to notice whether she had any holidays or time off due her, and has spent much of her official "off-duty" time riding Honolulu’s ambulances with her "children" (some of whom are older than she)."