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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 17 March 2023

Military moves to cut suicides, but defers action on guns

By TARA COPP and LOLITA pointments where patients
C. BALDOR receive multiple health
Associated Press care visits weekly when
WASHINGTON (AP) — De- they first seek care.
fense Secretary Lloyd Aus- He also ordered military pri-
tin ordered a number of mary care health clinics to
improvements in access screen for unhealthy levels
to mental health care on of alcohol use, make un-
Thursday to reduce suicides healthy alcohol use treat-
in the military, but held off ment easier to receive
on endorsing more contro- and make sure that men-
versial recommendations tal health care is available
to restrict gun and ammu- through service members’
nition purchases by young primary care as well.
troops, sending them to an- “The mental health support
other panel for study. available for our team-
An independent commit- mates must be compre-
tee in late February recom- hensive and easy to ac-
mended that the Defense cess,” Austin said in the
Department implement a memo.
series of gun safety mea- Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the
sures, including waiting pe- Pentagon press secretary,
riods for the purchase of told reporters in a briefing
firearms and ammunition Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, speaks during a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Thursday that Austin’s or-
by service members on mil- Mark Milley at the Pentagon in Washington, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. ders involved areas where
itary property and raising Associated Press the department already
the minimum age for ser- the gun measures. He also spite more than a decade such legislation has strug- has the authority to take
vice members to buy guns asked for cost estimates of programs and other ef- gled in recent years. immediate steps.
and ammunition to 25. and a description of any forts to prevent them and The more immediate “While we recognize that
In a memo released Thurs- “barriers” to implementing spur greater intervention changes address broader suicide has no single cause,
day, Austin called for the other changes, and set a by commanders, friends access to care. and that no single preven-
establishment of a suicide deadline of June 2 for that and family members. But To more quickly provide tative action, treatment or
prevention working group report. At no point did he his omission of any gun help for troops who may be cure will eliminate suicide
to “assess the advisabil- specifically refer to the gun safety and control mea- struggling, Austin directed altogether, we will exhaust
ity and feasibility” of rec- proposals or mention gun sures underscores the likeli- the Pentagon to hire more every effort to promote the
ommendations made by safety. His orders reflect in- hood that they would face behavioral health spe- wellness, health and mo-
the initial study commit- creasing concerns about staunch resistance, par- cialists and implement a rale of our total force,” Ry-
tee which would include suicides in the military, de- ticularly in Congress, where scheduling system for ap- der said.q

NTSB: Wing parts from air ambulance fell far from wreckage

By RIO YAMAT single-engine Pilatus PC12 Walton, 46, was headed Guardian Flight. according to the report.
Associated Press crashed in Stagecoach, from Reno to Salt Lake City Guardian Flight said in a But no further radio trans-
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A new Nevada, a rural communi- when it crashed around statement Wednesday it missions came in from the
federal report says parts of ty of about 2,500 residents 9:15 p.m. on Feb. 24 amid was reviewing the report pilot, the report states.
the right wing on a medi- outside of Reno. a winter storm. Care Flight is and assessing ways to Just minutes later, the plane
cal transport plane that Authorities have said the a service of REMSA Health, strengthen its safety pro- began to fall dropping
crashed last month in rural Care Flight piloted by Scott and its aviation vendor is tocols. “The safety and about 8,000 feet (2,440 me-
Nevada, killing all five peo- well-being of our patients ters) in 30 seconds before
ple aboard, fell far from the and crew is our utmost pri- the aircraft’s navigation
main wreckage site. ority and we will continue tracking system went dark,
The National Transporta- to make significant invest- according to the report.
tion Safety Board’s pre- ments to bolster our com- Dan Rose, an aviation at-
liminary findings released mitment,” the company torney retained by relatives
Wednesday could support said. of the Rands, told The Asso-
the agency’s initial theory The other victims also in- ciated Press that they hope
that the aircraft had bro- cluded 69-year-old patient NTSB will investigate Guard-
ken apart before hitting the Mark Rand and his 66-year- ian Flight’s decision to fly
ground. NTSB is expected to old spouse Terri Rand, as instead of waiting for the
release its final report with a well as two medical crew winter storm to pass.
probable cause within two members, Edward Pricola, Rose also said Mark Rand’s
years. 32, and Ryan Watson, 27. condition wasn’t life-threat-
The agency says parts of Walton contacted air traf- ening at the time.
the plane’s right wing were In this image provided by The National Transportation Safety fic control minutes before “I know the family would
located as far as three- Board, NTSB investigators document the wreckage of a Pilatus the crash to report that the want the NTSB to look care-
PC-12 airplane, a medical air transport flight operated by
quarters of a mile (1.1 ki- Guardian Flight, Feb. 26, 2023, in Dayton, Nev. plane was climbing past fully at the two issues,” Rose
lometers) from where the Associated Press 15,400 feet (4,694 meters), said Wednesday. q