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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) Download HiRes 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

The Military Health System is asking you to "Share Your Care" in a video contest that showcases the people, programs and facilities supporting the health of our service members and families! The Share Your Care contest, is open to all service members, their families and MHS personnel, and it runs Feb. 27 through March 30, 2009.

The Army has documented that the survival rate in ongoing conflicts is over 90%, the highest recorded in modern combat. This survival rate is the product of numerous innovations such as improvements in protective equipment, improvements in evacuation, improvements in the training of combat medics, and innovations in the medical equipment and techniques available at all levels of care from self/buddy aid, through field care given by medics and into hospital care delivered in theater and in the U.S.

For veterans struggling financially due to a job loss or decreased income, Department of Veterans Affairs officials offer an assortment of programs that can relieve the costs of health care or provide care at no cost.

As organizations throughout the U.S. work to help combat veterans, the Coalition for Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans decided to bring them all together so they could share knowledge about what they're doing and talk about what still needs to be done. CIAV is a clearinghouse of 50 agencies that seek to help veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the three-day conference, veterans like McGinnis talked about their experiences trying to access care after returning from deployment, family members talked about their own versions of "combat stress," and care specialists talked about what they had to offer as well as how the different organizations could team up.

3/12/2009 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Health care providers at the largest Air Force medical center on the West Coast are using state-of-the-art, interactive human patient simulators as just one of many safety initiatives to improve medical care, the medical center's commander said March 11

Center for Study of Traumatic Stress: Courage to Care Each installment includes a fact sheet for healthcare professionals and a fact sheet for families and patients. Courage to Care can be distributed in office waiting areas, or on an organization's website.

15 part series for Warrior Care Month.

The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) aims to advance the clinical care and social welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and stress-related disorders. This site is an educational resource on PTSD and traumatic stress, for veterans and also for mental health care providers, researchers and the general public.

The Defense Department is deeply committed to providing the best care possible for military members with post-traumatic stress disorder, despite the determination that the disorder does not meet the criteria for the Purple Heart, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday.

The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs are making "great strides" in the ability to electronically share the medical records of troops and former troops under their care who are transitioning between the health care systems of the two departments.

S. Ward Casscells, M.D. , Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, talks about his visit with British Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Louis Lillywhite with regards to combat care, care in UK, and PTSD.

Although defense health care does not fall within the purview of Tommy Thomas, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, military families do.

A handful of lawmakers are gearing up for a fight to largely exempt military and veterans benefits from the broader health care reform movement.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- A $200,000 grant will help provide medical care in Charlotte County for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Charlotte Behavioral Health Care received the grant from the Florida BRAIVE Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. The grant will be used over the next 18 months to address mental health, substance abuse and related psychological needs of 75 to 100 veterans and family members.

The Defense Department recently handed out contracts to three companies to design independent living systems for injured vets. They're supposed to help the wounded make the transition from hospitalization to home, and then provide long-term care. Two of the systems being developed, from Ingenium Care, LLC and Camris International, use a wireless network packed with touch screens, motion detectors and wearable, pre-programmed schedulers.

Spouses of service members killed in combat would receive free military health care for life under a bill introduced Monday by Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. The chief effect of the legislation would be to prevent surviving spouses from being charged the same as retirees for using Tricare health benefit beginning three years after a service member's death, which is the case under current law.

ARCALA, Honduras (AFNS) -- During a two-week exercise in early February, a team of 16 medical doctors, nurse practitioners, dietitians and medical students conducted pediatric nutrition evaluations for families without the means or access to regular medical care in the remote mountains near Marcala, Honduras.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2008 - Hundreds of people in Afghanistan's Zabul province received the gifts of medical care and humanitarian assistance earlier this month. Members of the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Afghan National Army and coalition forces participated in a medical operation in a local village.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2009 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is pleased by "great progress" in improving care and support for wounded warriors, but believes these developments "are still not good enough" and plans to implement more, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today.