Virtual veteran to help grad students learn

Researchers at USC hope that virtual clients like Sarax will help social workers learn to interact with military personnel and identify the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is one of the ways that the university's School of Social Work is harnessing technology to improve care for returning veterans and help head off a looming crisis.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 2 million U.S. troops have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly a third report symptoms of PTSD, severe depression or traumatic brain injury when they return, according to a 2008 study by Rand Corp.
By Alexandra Zavis, Times Staff Writer

Overdue recognition for invisible injuries

The services are engaged in a long overdue effort to clarify rules for the Purple Heart, one of the military’s most coveted medals.

All four branches are studying an Army-led push to declare that troops who suffer concussions as a result of combat actions are entitled to a Purple Heart.

That means, for example, that soldiers in a vehicle that hits a bomb buried in the road qualify if they suffer a concussion.

In theory, the rules already allow for that. But in practice, it’s clear that few such head injuries have earned wounded service members a Purple Heart.

In the Army alone, some 114,000 soldiers have suffered concussions since the wars began. While not all were the result of combat, the fact that only 26,000 Purple Hearts have been awarded in that period is telling. Clearly, thousands — perhaps as many as 50,000 — soldiers may have merited a Purple Heart for serious combat wounds, yet never received that recognition because the injury was invisible.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce-military-editorial-overdue-recognition-for-invisible-injuries-032811/

Army shines light on TBI vision problems

ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, March 22, 2011) -- The U.S. Army, with the support of the Vision Center of Excellence, launched a new Army Traumatic Brain Injury Vision Rehabilitation Initiative in February.

While Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, is a significant injury of current military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, this new initiative is designed to ensure Soldiers with TBI-associated eye problems are diagnosed and referred, if needed, for comprehensive, functional eye examinations and rehabilitative care.

"In addition to headaches or general problems with comprehension, attention, concentration or memory, TBI patients commonly suffer functional vision difficulties including focusing problems, double vision, difficulty reading, sensitivity to light, aching eyes, or loss of visual field," said Maj. Jinjong Chung, who is leading the project for the Rehabilitation and Reintegration Division of the Office of the Army Surgeon General.

By Rob McIlvaine, ARNEWS

Play Shares Emotions of Deployments, Reintegration

HAMPTON, Va., March 24, 2011 – The “F-bombs” fell fast and furiously yesterday at an otherwise perfectly proper gathering of military health care professionals here as they broke away from their lectures and academic exchanges to watch a documentary play about the challenges many of their patients struggle to overcome.

“ReEntry,” co-written by K.J. Sanchez and Emily Ackerman, is based on actual interviews with Marines and their loved ones, and it explores their raw, realistic and often tender experiences related to repeated combat deployments and redeployments. The playwrights spent hundreds of hours interviewing Marines returning from Afghanistan and Iraq as well as their families, then used their exact words in the play.

Navy Capt. Paul S. Hammer, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, introduced the play at the first Armed Forces Public Health Conference. Before the actors took their places on the stage, he warned the audience not to be surprised by the play’s “salty” and “irreverent” humor.

By Donna Miles

Smart phones could help bridge treatment gap

Soldiers who lack access to mental health care providers because they are too far away from each other could one day speak to a doctor on a screen in the palm of the hand or inside a converted shipping container.

Researchers with the National Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth are exploring how smart phones and cargo containers equipped with two-way video technology can link soldiers to care across long distances. Tests are underway for smart phones, and the first converted cargo container is already in use.

“We at T2 continue to focus on expanding access to care to our service members, veterans and families, and one of the ways is through two-way audio-visual interactions,” said Matt Mishkind, chief of T2’s clinical telehealth division. “Our big focus is to make sure we get care to people anywhere it’s needed, anytime that it’s needed, that it’s as close to patients as possible in places where people feel comfortable receiving the care.”

By Joe Gould

Soldier Inspires Others With Brain-injury Recovery

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2011 – His first significant brain injury was a setback, but when he experienced several more a few years later, Army Capt. Galen Peterson figured he’d reached the end of his military career.
“One of the biggest things that I struggled with when I was going through [traumatic brain injury] is the impression that my career and life as I knew it was over, that there was no way I could stay on active duty, much less an armor officer,” he said.
But with hard work and perseverance, he was able not only to remain on active duty, but also to take on his current job as the rear detachment commander for the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, at Fort Carson, Colo.

By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service

Segways For Veterans Program Assists Injured Military Veterans

SAN DIEGO -- Some 30 military veterans injured in Iraq or Afghanistan are in San Diego training for a new mission and using what has been described as a miracle device.

Jerry Kerr broke his neck in a diving accident 13 years ago. Confined to a wheelchair, it wasn't until he obtained a Segway, a self-propelled two-wheeled device, that his life changed forever.

"I was able to do more. I was better able to serve my family. My family had a better quality of life," Kerr said.


Kerr got the idea that if it worked for him, it might work for veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who had suffered traumatic injuries.


http://www.10news.com/news/27270272/detail.html

Wounded Warriors program finds veterans positions within the federal government

A victim of an October 2006 improvised explosive device attack in Haditha, Iraq, Perry returned stateside with a broken back, broken arm, broken ribs, a fractured left kneecap as well as a multitude of burns, cuts and abrasions.
But he fought through 30 surgeries to recover.
While his medical care after returning home was excellent, he said, he was discouraged about his employment opportunities and bounced around a few jobs following his retirement from the U.S. Navy in March 2010.
Now the 29-year-old Perryville-native has a clerical position with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The job comes thanks to the help of a relatively new branch of the U.S. Army Wounded Warriors program.

By Associated Press, Sunday, March 20, 12:01 AM

Disabled veterans looking for work have resources

Usually, there are only two outcomes from a job interview: an offer of employment or rejection. For Jason Skerik - a disabled combat vet who served in Desert Storm - there was a third.

"During the middle of the interview - it was with this young, energetic guy who was an independent Comcast contractor - I suddenly thought, 'Why am I going to work for you? Why don't I work for myself?' "

Inspired by the thought, Skerik, 40, returned to his home in San Rafael and made a list of ideas. One of them stood out. "I decided to start a maid/janitorial service," he said. "And I decided I would hire veterans."

Dana Perrigan, Special to The Chronicle

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/16/BUCH1I8FV5.DTL#ixzz1GxDdXRU3

Coming Home: The Human Face of TBI

Coming home: it sounds joyous. But often, soldiers returning from battle report conflicted feelings.

When it comes to readjusting to the rhythm of everyday life, factors like physical injuries that can include traumatic brain injury [TBI] and anxiety and general emotional unsteadiness can make the adjustment hard on a soldier.

By Barbara Mannino

Growing up while mom and dad are off fighting a war

Seth Rice is a 2-year-old boy full of energy, curiosity and emotions. Watching him play with his toys, you don't notice any of the emotional toll that having a parent deploy can take on a little boy.
Let alone having both parents deploy, for nearly seven months simultaneously.
But that's what Seth's parents did, choosing to deploy to Afghanistan together, rather than have one stay home with Seth while the other deployed.
That decision may be hard for some parents to fathom, but for the Rices it was the best option.
"It was very difficult," Marine Staff Sgt. Jeff Rice said in an interview from Camp Leatherneck, where he and his wife are based.
"It took a lot of back-and-forth discussions," Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chat Rice said.
Part of what made the decision less difficult was Seth's age.
"We were thinking that a 2-year-old wouldn't remember too much of us being gone than if we had to do it when he was 7, when he'd remember the whole thing," Jeff explained.

By Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer

Take initiative with countering stress

I spoke with a Soldier, a seasoned Ranger NCO, who participated in the first phase of combat operations in Iraq.

He said he saw things that would change him forever. All Soldiers I speak with, who have been to Iraq or Afghanistan, make similar comments — but he went further. He said sometimes he sees, out of the corner of his eye, Iraqi soldiers emerging from the wood line at his quarters. When he looks directly, there is no one there. He feels embarrassed.

Once, when a neighbor was grilling chicken, he had a flashback to a time when he was exposed to the smell of burning human flesh. He said he instinctively hit the deck in a cold sweat when he heard the sounds of gunnery at night. Lying there crying, he felt foolish. His reactions are common for those exposed to the trauma of combat. Obviously, this was a strain on him, his work and his family. He realized he needed professional help. Thank goodness the stigma of behavioral medicine is beginning to leave and Soldiers can find help without fear of destroying careers.

By Chaplain (Capt.) Dan Hardin - The Bayonet

Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/03/08/1489843/take-initiative-with-countering.html#ixzz1GJaghvlB

Female GIs struggle with higher rate of divorce

For women in the military, there's a cold, hard reality: Their marriages are more than twice as likely to end in divorce as those of their male comrades — and up to three times as likely for enlisted women.

About 220,000 women have served in Afghanistan and Iraq in roles ranging from helicopter pilots to police officers. Last year, 7.8 percent of women in the military got a divorce, compared with 3 percent of military men, according to Pentagon statistics. Among the military's enlisted corps, meaning they aren't commissioned officers, nearly 9 percent of women saw their marriages end, compared with a little more than 3 percent of the men.

Research indicates that military women also get divorced at higher rates than their peers outside the military, while military men divorce at lower rates than their peers, according to a journal article published last year by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Brookings Institution. Directly comparing divorce rates between the military and civilian sectors is difficult because of the way the numbers are kept. It also noted that older military women — ages 40-49 — are about half as likely to be in their first marriage as civilian women of the same age.

By KIMBERLY HEFLING

Medical Monday: “Hot Topics” in the Treatment of TBI

Brain Injury Awareness Month gives us an opportunity to raise awareness and support for service members, veterans and families whose lives are affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). As DCoE’s deputy director for TBI, I work with many others including the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center to improve TBI care delivered to service members in deployed and non-deployed environments. The Defense Department made significant advancements in TBI management during the past several years and we’re continuing to learn as we treat. Navigating the clinical challenges that providers face in the field is critical to ensure we’re employing state-of-the-art care for all levels of TBI severity, from concussion to severe and penetrating brain injuries.
The department is aggressively working to improve the diagnosis and treatment of TBI in-theater. By issuing the Directive Type Memorandum (DTM) “Policy Guidance for Management of Concussion/Mild TBI in the Deployed Setting,” commanders or their representatives are required to assess all service members involved in potentially concussive events, to include those without apparent injuries, using the Injury/Evaluation/Distance from Blast (I.E.D.) checklist.

By Kathy Helmick

For brain injuries, a treatment gap

The first two doctors who examined Scott Hamilton 's fractured skull told his wife that he wouldn't make it through the night. A third believed he could save Hamilton's life.

On Oct. 26, 2005, Hamilton was tossed from his Vespa motor scooter on Market Street in San Francisco during his 2-mile ride to work. He was going 25 mph when his tire skidded on a trolley track, and his helmeted head struck the pavement.

Geoffrey Manley, director of brain trauma at the University of California-San Francisco, said keeping Hamilton alive would be just the start of the road to recovery. To increase his chances of returning to a normal life, Hamilton would need the type of intensive rehabilitation care now being provided to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in Tucson on Jan. 8.

By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY

First Lady, Dr. Biden to Launch Troop-support Campaign

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2011 – First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, plan to launch a campaign next month that’s designed to rally citizens, businesses and nonprofit organizations to provide support for U.S. service members and their families.
Obama and Biden previewed the campaign today during the National Governors Association meeting at the White House.
“We’re very excited about this initiative because we think that this will not only help our troops and their families, but it will help us as a nation link together and be even stronger,” the first lady said.
The campaign, Obama explained, will focus on four main areas: employment, education, wellness and public awareness.
“We’re going to be working with businesses and nonprofit organizations to improve career opportunities for veterans and military spouses,” she said. “There are a lot of wonderful models, companies that are already doing great things. We want to raise up those models and encourage other businesses to find a way to do the same.”

By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service

Battle ongoing to defeat combat stress

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Combat stress is one of the most lethal enemies that members of the armed forces must face. Members of the Combat Stress Clinic are working throughout Afghanistan to defeat this enemy.

Lt. Col Thomas Stokes, a social worker from Glenshaw, Pa., leads a team dedicated to helping servicemembers cope with the stress of combat and increase their efficacy on the battlefield.

"My objective is to maintain the fighting strength," said Stokes.

Stokes said he recognizes each person he treats is faced with a different set of stressors depending upon where they are in the deployment cycle.

"I treat every person who walks through my door as a unique individual," said Stokes. "Our treatment is not, 'one size fits all.'"

Servicemembers deployed for their first time must adjust to life in a foreign environment and help their loved ones to adjust to their absence. Those returning to the U.S. often feel both joy and anxiety as they prepare to reintegrate into home and Western society.
By Capt. Kenneth A. Stewart, 17th Public Affairs Detachment