Actually I stopped reading the article after I read, "The Associated Press, highlights the Bush administration's continuing difficulties in treating traumatic brain injury". It's obvious that the writer is more concerned about their anti-Bush agenda that reporting the truth, so there's no sense going farther. President Bush down to the lowest scum in the country (reporters) have to depend on the medical community to do whats necessary to fix the problem. Only an idiot would presume that Bush or his staff could second guess the doctors and be at fault.
Here we begin discussion with a link or a specific reference to a story in the news.
As a new member, you may wish to take a moment and check out the Read and Heed at the top of this page for guidance before you post. It allows you to see if there are existing threads on the same topics, as well as other important guidelines for posting.
It's a good idea to introduce your military affiliation to the more experienced members to get things going.
The diagnosis of TBI, and its connection with PTSD, is an emerging and very inexact science at the moment. Five years ago the diagnosis was virtually non-existent. Medical research takes time to evolve, and many diagnostic and treatment approaches are usually tried and many discarded before effective and reliable ones are found.
Instant gratification and effective medical treatment often cancel each other out. Patience and persistence to find the right approach(es) are what will allow us to mitigate this combat-related injury, no matter which political party sits at the top.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080131/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_suicides Poor screening for brain injuries is unexcusable, they have known about the problem for a long time, now suicide rates are continueing to rise, we just don't have time for the VA to get it's act together!
YankeeMedic here- 1st AVN BDE RVN 1971 Desert Storm Combat Medic attached from IA Guard to the 1st ID & 17 years as an FSB senior medic NCO. ANY soldier/marine that has been close to an IED going off STILL needs his cranium scanned by MRI for possible head trauma. Bean counters trying to save the government some money in the short term are usually civilian types WITHOUT A CLUE !
These reports are close, but not even close to the reality of the AOR. During the my depolyment in Iraq 2006, we med-evac'd close to 3000 injured & sick warriors in 120 days (332nd Air Expeditionary MDS). The amount of Troops that went back on line immediately after an IED or rocket explosions was huge. These guys figured as long as they could walk, talk and shoot - they were "go to go". Now, they are back in the real world and can't get the examines.
Originally posted by 3371796: YankeeMedic here- 1st AVN BDE RVN 1971 Desert Storm Combat Medic attached from IA Guard to the 1st ID & 17 years as an FSB senior medic NCO. ANY soldier/marine that has been close to an IED going off STILL needs his cranium scanned by MRI for possible head trauma. Bean counters trying to save the government some money in the short term are usually civilian types WITHOUT A CLUE !
6-IEDs and 1 Carbomb, knocked out twice, never was given an MRI.....Headaches continue...Mortin fixs everything according to the Army....
I wonder if anyone has done a study or correlation on related injuries from other wars. This is not the first war were soldiers are in close proximity to, or directly exposed to HE explosions. Surely men and women from other wars have experienced some of the same things. How were they treated, (don't say "poorly" I get it) or were they? Just a thought.
This is really a problem that can be solved in a simple manner; allow veterans to seek medical care from the best medical facilities in America. Especially those that deal with neurological chemical imbalances, brain trauma, neurological diseases. I feel fairly confident such institutions will provide the required follow up and treatment necessary for our vets without any of them falling through the cracks.
