Defense health officials told injured troops need more help

Defense health officials told injured troops need more help
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes,
Mideast edition, Wednesday, September 19, 2007

WASHINGTON — Defense health officials need to do more to not only fully heal troops wounded in combat but also rehabilitate and retrain them, health experts and returning troops said Tuesday.

“It used to be when a soldier got hurt you’d rush him back, fix him up and send him home to Mom,” said Capt. Dave Rozelle, deputy director of Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s new training facility for amputees in Washington. “But with today’s Army that’s a problem. … Now these men and women are telling us they want to continue to serve.”

The comments came at a U.S. Naval Institute forum on post-combat health care. Organizers said the goal was to find new solutions for emerging issues such as keeping amputees on active duty, recognizing and treating traumatic brain injuries and diminishing the stigma of post-traumatic stress disorder.

While panelists praised the medical care that wounded troops receive, they still see gaps in the long-term rehabilitation many troops receive.

Dr. Thomas Gaultieri, medical director for the North Carolina Neuro-Psychiatry Clinic, said the services need to do a better job diagnosing mild traumatic brain injuries, then providing the appropriate help.

“The vast majority can make a full recovery if they get the proper diagnosis and care,” he said.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=48867