I watched the Bob Woodruff special the other night. It was very enlightening. At first I thought, "It is sad that it takes a news anchor getting wounded in specific way to shed light on an little know battlefield injury." I felt that there are other injuries that were just as note worthy that were not getting the same coverage simply because no well known person has been injured that way. It turns out that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is very common.
The fact that a person can have TBI without showing external wounds makes it easy for doctors to misdiagnose as PTSD or simlpy miss it completely. Any person near an explosion can suffer from TBI. A helmet does not protect against the shock wave that rattles your brain.
The other part of the story was about how the VA Hospital system is unprepared to treat TBI. This was not a shock to me. The VA has never been good at its mission. There was some mention about the preparedness of the Military hospitals, but I don't remember any direct comment about it being adequate or not.
It was interesting that the Walter Reed Military Hospital scandal story broke soon after this special. I would hope that the Military and Civilian leaders of our country would listen to the media stories and investigate weaknessess in the system.
With more wounded coming home everyday, I can't see how the level of care is going to improve. The VA hospitals have always been a joke. I would say something needs to change. Less wounded would be a good start.
The fact that a person can have TBI without showing external wounds makes it easy for doctors to misdiagnose as PTSD or simlpy miss it completely. Any person near an explosion can suffer from TBI. A helmet does not protect against the shock wave that rattles your brain.
The other part of the story was about how the VA Hospital system is unprepared to treat TBI. This was not a shock to me. The VA has never been good at its mission. There was some mention about the preparedness of the Military hospitals, but I don't remember any direct comment about it being adequate or not.
It was interesting that the Walter Reed Military Hospital scandal story broke soon after this special. I would hope that the Military and Civilian leaders of our country would listen to the media stories and investigate weaknessess in the system.
With more wounded coming home everyday, I can't see how the level of care is going to improve. The VA hospitals have always been a joke. I would say something needs to change. Less wounded would be a good start.
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