(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I would like to make one announcement at the outset. When I visited Camp Narashino in December of last year and January of this year, members of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Special Forces Group and the 1st Airborne Brigade explained that, in the event personnel are wounded in the field, the life-saving procedures they themselves can perform are limited, and requested that they be permitted to perform life-saving procedures in the event of an emergency. In response, I immediately instructed the Director General for Health and Medicine to examine this matter. Following a series of discussions within the Ministry involving experts in emergency medicine, the Medical Control Council of the Ministry of Defense decided on May 13 to permit six additional life-saving procedures based on requests from units. As a result, measures that could not previously be taken through the life-saving procedures authorized for the field, including measures to stop severe bleeding and emergency treatment for personnel whose lungs have been injured by gunshot wounds, can now be performed, and a new framework will be established to protect the lives of personnel. To ensure the safety of personnel, we will establish detailed guidelines for these six additional life-saving procedures and implement related training and other safety measures. As Minister of Defense, I will continue to make decisions necessary to protect the lives of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel, without being bound by precedent, and execute efforts to protect SDF personnel engaged in demanding duties as well as their families. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Director General for Health and Medicine Hinoshita and to everyone from the relevant departments who worked hard to realize the earnest wishes and requests of the personnel in the field. That concludes my opening remarks.