MilitaryHealth

Traumatic brain injury, one of the signature injuries suffered by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, demands a "sense of urgency," the U.S. military's top officer said today.

The Navy played a key role last spring in the discovery of the H1N1 influenza's presence in the United States, according to a senior Navy medical

Treatment for servicemembers suffering from psychological trauma really is a brave new world.

Before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there was little research on effective treatments and not much pressure to add to what existed, said Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Loree Sutton, director of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Sutton, at a Warrior Resilience Conference here, said her office has been working with the services to develop treatment programs and is researching best medical practices. But the effort isn't a simple matter of an open checkbook; results count.

To strengthen the Department of Veterans Affairs programs for survivors of the nation's veterans and servicemembers, VA officials have staffed an office to serve as the their advocate, with a charter that includes creating or modifying programs, benefits and services.

Military health care workers saw 9,000 patients, returning from Indonesian relief effort

According to the National Institutes of Health, Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. Breast cancer kills more women in the United States than any cancer except lung cancer.

Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment, or CAREN, a new therapeutic technology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Combat gauze, the Common Remotely Operated Weapons System, and a new machine-gun cradle were among technologies recognized by U.S. Army Materiel Command during the "Top Ten Great Inventions of 2008" event held near the Pentagon.

Too many veterans' disability claims take more than a year to process, the Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general said. An audit showed that a year ago, 11,000 veterans had claims pending more than a year. It said the agency awarded retroactive payments totaling about $43 million for about a third of them. Of that total, it says about $14 million was unnecessarily delayed. Among the worst cases, the inspector general said, was one involving a veteran who was owed nearly $65,000 for a delayed claim, and another in which a veteran waited more than two years for payment, the inspector general said. The report said the veterans agency had made progress in reducing handling claims, but that delays still created too much of a financial burden for veterans.

Hearing the sounds of wounded soldiers crying for help and the staccato of nearby gunfire, Illinois National Guard Capt. Thomas Kim briefly flashed back to a war zone, but his mind quickly returned to the combat trauma simulation being held in a classroom at Rush University Medical Center .

The Army has started to screen all soldiers, Army civilian employees and contractors for swine flu before they deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else in U.S. Central Command's region.

Photos
New PTSD Clinic uses virtual reality
Dr. Alan Maiers (left), the assistant chief of the Warrior Resiliancy Program at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, simulates a virtual reality city patrol Aug. 26 for Maj. Monty Baker, the Warrior Resiliancy Program director of research. The virtual reality program is designed to treat servicemembers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder after returning from combat operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Amber Bressler)
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Wilford Hall opens new PTSD Clinic

Posted 9/17/2009 Email story Print story



by Linda Frost
59th Medical Wing Public Affairs

9/17/2009 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Wilford Hall Medical Center has a new clinic to treat patients who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.

The PTSD Clinic offers evidence-based treatments and a virtual reality program to help Airmen returning from combat operations.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder which can occur after a person has been through a traumatic event, according to the National Center for PTSD.

"We want to provide the highest quality care possible for patients experiencing PTSD," said Col. (Dr.) Gerald Talcott, 59th Medical Wing Mental Health Squadron commander.

As part of the Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, the PTSD Clinic was created in response to the increasing number of service and family members with PTSD. It is timely in that it coincides with the establishment of the Air Force's new Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a pilot program initiated at eight Air Force bases.

The Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, using a computer-simulated Virtual Iraq and Virtual Afghanistan, allows Airmen to interact and recreate a traumatic scene and recall sights, sounds, smells, thoughts and feelings.

Still in its preliminary stages, the clinic staff started seeing patients Aug. 3, and is led by Dr. Kellie Crowe, staff psychologist.

"We are very excited about providing evidence-based treat