Returning Brain Wounded Troops to Duty and Normal Life
September 09, 2022
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have always been a part of military life, particularly in combat zones. However, it wasn’t until 2003 that awareness of TBIs began to increase.
TBIs can be sustained in the wake of an IED, a roadside bomb. In the last twenty years, military personnel have obtained approximately 454,000 TBIs. Most TBI cases result from being in battle, involved in noncombat accidents, or during training.
Some cases may be considered mild to moderate, but symptoms can be present over a long period. Although active-duty members have top priority in receiving proper treatment, family members and retirees may also receive care.
Many TBI symptoms include irritability, headaches, sleep disorders, memory loss, vision loss, mood swings, and hearing issues. Each case is different, and a physician must tailor each treatment modality for each individual.
The new Intrepid Spirit Center, the ninth in a series of ten, is geared towards offering an interdisciplinary care model involving a whole team. The center provides occupational therapy, physical therapy, neurology, a licensed clinical social worker, speech-language pathologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation for physicians, two physician assistants, and a neurophysiologist. Music and art are alternative treatments that may help others.
Lieutenant Commander Narisa Tappitake, a deputy director of the Intrepid Spirit Center at Fort Carson’s Evans Army Community Hospital near Colorado Springs, has expressed that despite the dismal numbers of troops sustaining head injuries, progress is being made. Treating veterans and returning members with TBI is essential to help them return to active duty and their normal lives.
The sprawling center is chockful of cutting-edge technology and a high-tech device. The Bertec simulator is known to create a virtual-reality treatment for those diagnosed with imbalance and vertigo – two difficulties quite common for those suffering from a TBI. Most cases are mild or moderate, with symptoms disappearing within hours or days. However, the challenges they face are daunting for less than one percent of personnel who have sustained severe or penetrating injuries.
Approximately ninety-four percent of the patients at the new facility have the opportunity to return to duty. The new center provides service to a broad swath of the western U.S. There are other similar centers at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Camp Pendleton, California; and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.