Kagawa joins mutual support partnership
The air ambulance service of Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, will join a mutual support agreement covering the island of Shikoku
The new agreement will be signed by the Kagawa government, alongside its counterparts in Ehime, Kochi and Tokushima Prefectures, on 1 July. The Kansai Regional Union facilitated the agreement, and was also a co-signee.
Shikoku’s prefectural air ambulances will begin operating under the terms of the arrangement the following Wednesday, on 6 July.
The new agreement builds on a previously established arrangement between the governments of Ehime, Kochi and Tokushima to provide each other with emergency medical and disaster response support up to a 100km radius of their base hospital. The new arrangement effectively incorporates Kagawa Prefecture into this arrangement.
Kagawa was the final prefecture in Japan to launch a dedicated air ambulance. The service began in April 2022. The prefecture has also recently signed a separate mutual support agreement with its northern neighbour Okayama, which lies on the opposite side of the Seto Inland Sea.