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Trauma care better, group says

Vets association says more work needed at Carson

Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 16, 2007 at midnight

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COLORADO SPRINGS - Fort Carson has taken steps to better help soldiers who return from combat with post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental conditions, though there still is work to be done, members of a veterans' support group said Tuesday.

"I feel good about it," said Steve Robinson, director of veteran affairs for the Washington, D.C.-based Veterans for America.

"I do believe the Army has a plan . . . We're at the beginning phase."

Robinson and Veterans for America investigator Andrew Pogany led a group of congressional staffers to Fort Carson for a two-day visit that ended Tuesday. It was the first of five "fact-finding" visits to military bases around the country.

The visits are the latest in response to allegations that soldiers with mental conditions aren't getting the treatment they need, or that they are being less- than-honorably discharged because of behavior - such as alcohol or drug abuse - prompted by their illness.

The Fort Carson visit included a nearly eight-hour, closed-door meeting with soldiers and their families Monday, followed by meetings with Fort Carson staff Tuesday morning.

Robinson and Lt. Col. David Johnson, Fort Carson public affairs officer, said both sides left with ideas for areas that could use improvement. Among them:

• Continue and improve training for soldiers in leadership positions so they know the warning signs of PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other illnesses. Many of those leaders are "war-focused" and until recently, hadn't been taught what to look for or what to do if a soldier needs help.

• Leaders must be better informed on the effects of medication soldiers may be taking.

• The Army must "mitigate the stigma" associated with getting help.

Fort Carson officials also told congressional staff there is a need for more mental health professionals and case managers, particularly at times of a "surge," when large numbers of troops are deployed or returning from war.

Robinson and Pogany also said a high-ranking Army officer agreed to personally review the 43 cases Pogany has investigated at Fort Carson. Ten to 12 of those cases involve people who were less-than-honorably discharged because of disciplinary problems likely caused by untreated medical conditions, Pogany said.

VFA believes those soldiers should have been given a chance at treatment - drug rehab or consistent counseling, for example - before they were discharged, Robinson said.

"We have a responsibility to help them return from war," he added.

Comments

  • November 13, 2008

    8:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    joycelorenza writes:

    Georgia's budget crisis has cast doubt on the state's ability to provide millions of dollars to expand the network of hospitals that handle trauma care for car crashes, stabbings and shootings, top state officials said."It's going to be tough," said Gov. Sonny Perdue's spokesman, Bert Brantley. "We're in a cutting mode."Such comments worry advocates who want up to $75 million annually from the state. They are gearing up a $398,000 public awareness campaign to convince state legislators trauma care is a priority."When they say things like that, I worry that they are not making trauma a top priority," said Dr. Dennis Ashley, head of the state trauma commission.Advocates, including elected and hospital officials and EMS representatives, stress that trauma care in Georgia is in its own crisis. The state's death rate for wreck and other victims is 20 percent higher than the national average. Simply meeting that average, they say, could save the lives of 700 Georgians a year.
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    joycelorenza

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