Photo/Illutration Members of the Self-Defense Forces bring in troops injured in fighting to a makeshift field hospital on Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture during a battlefield medical drill on Nov. 1. (Provided by Ground Self-Defense Force)

When troops were wounded in fighting in the country's remote southwestern islands, a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) helicopter unit was assigned to transport the injured out.

However, the helicopter could not land on Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture due to clouds. Instead, GSDF members specializing in medical care hastily triaged the wounded, who were transported to a field hospital and provided first-aid treatment, according to sources. 

The real-life inclement weather provided a challenge as the GSDF is conducting its largest-ever battlefield medical drill in the remote islands and elsewhere to prepare for possible contingencies amid China’s maritime advances.

The GSDF carried out part of a drill on Nov. 1 by setting up the makeshift field hospital in a disaster prevention center on Tokunoshima island on the assumption that the 109th air squadron would airlift the injured out to Kumamoto Prefecture.

It was reportedly the SDF’s first field exercise in its history using an actual remote island as a base for providing battlefield medical care.

The drill is being conducted against the backdrop of China’s increased naval actions in the East China Sea. In recent years, the SDF has been shifting its troops to the nation’s southwestern Nansei Islands, where no troops had been stationed before, to boost Japan’s defenses.

“Preparing for contingencies on the Nansei Islands includes making ourselves ready for possible deaths and wounded, including those of local residents, from fighting on remote islands,” said a senior SDF official.

The official said damage control to minimize the death toll from wars is “extremely difficult” on remote islands, given that health care systems of such islands are fragile and means of transportation are limited, compared to the main islands of Honshu and Okinawa Prefecture.

The drill is intended to pinpoint problems that need to be addressed in the field since the SDF does not have much experience in providing medical care in the event of contingencies.

The SDF formerly conducted drills in areas where its troops are stationed instead of remote islands because it could not obtain local consent for using the islands for that kind of training.

This time, the SDF could gain the understanding of concerned parties on Tokunoshima by taking the time to explain the necessity of the field exercise, the sources said.

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