New rules for troops hit by IED blasts

[unhappycamper]

A soldier unloads .50 caliber rounds from a MRAP after an IED attack in Wardak province, Afghanistan last year.


New rules for troops hit by IED blasts
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Tuesday Mar 2, 2010 17:31:41 EST

WASHINGTON — Troops caught near a roadside blast will be pulled out of combat for 24 hours and checked for a mild traumatic brain injury, even if they appear unhurt or say they are fine, according to a new treatment policy the Pentagon is planning to release.

“Very clearly, we’re sort of taking it out of their hands,” said Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who pushed hard for the policy change. “The sooner you’re able to treat somebody and get it right, the higher the probability you’ll reduce the long-term impacts . So speed is really important here.”

The policy change stems from growing concerns that troops suffer a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in combat — or more than one — and go undetected, Mullen told USA TODAY in an interview. “We need to treat ... more quickly and then we need to keep track of people,” he said.

The Pentagon is “likely to issue” the policy in the next several weeks, spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

A RAND Corp. study estimated in 2008 that 300,000 U.S. troops may have suffered this injury, many from a blast. About 100,000 troops have been diagnosed with mild TBI since 2003, with numbers increasing as military medicine has become more aggressive in screening for the hidden injury, according to Pentagon data.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/gns_brain_injuries_mullen_030210army/

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[TexasObserver]

2. Recommend

[madokie]

3. Thats a good change

The changes, they are a coming, drips maybe but coming nonetheless

[progressoid]

4. 300,000 TBIs

Wow.

[w8liftinglady]

5. well-it's about fucking time.

we've had this data for years.One of my volunteer organizations,Operation Helmet,has been supplying upgraded helmet pads to the troops since 2004-since the Pentagon didn't have a problem with the crap helmets they were using.

[unhappycamper]

6. Yes.

But the DoD is still stiffing dependents and Vietnam veterans.

[northofdenali]

7. My stepson recently married Shirley, an Iraq War vet

and TBI victim. She is, of course, disabled (100%) but one of the most wonderful women I've ever known. The IED that "got" her transport (she was a heavy transport driver) was INSIDE one of our "safer" compounds there.

This new rule would have benefitted her greatly. She suffered a broken leg (thigh) and hip, and was of course treated immediately for those (and other more minor) injuries, but her TBI wasn't detected for two weeks.

New rule? Thumbsup!

[hootinholler]

8. I'm beginning to like this Mullen guy. n/t

[spanone]

9. it's taken seven years to come to this conclusion

[Richard Steele]

10. K&R

[Canuckistanian]

11. They did the same thing in Canada

As opposed to the usual policy of "suck it up, buttercup"

Head trauma has a way of eventually biting you in the ass, so to speak.

[AwakeAtLast]

12. About damn time

Let's hope they can diagnose correctly in the field. That cannot be easy.