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FRUSTRATED WITH FEDS, ILLINOIS STARTS OWN BRAIN
INJURY SCREENING PROGRAM FOR VETERANS -- "It's
been
shown that the federal government simply was
not prepared
to deal with the number of war injured coming
home
from Iraq and Afghanistan."
Tammy Duckworth, Director Illinois VA
Story here...
http://www.nytimes.com/
2007/07/04/us/04vets.html?
_r=1&oref=slogin
Story below:
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Screening for Brain Injury Is Set for Illinois
Veterans
By LIBBY SANDER
CHICAGO, — Frustrated with the federal government’s response to the
mental health needs of soldiers, Illinois officials announced on Tuesday
that members of the state’s National Guard would be routinely screened
for traumatic brain injuries after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The mandatory program, which appears to be the first in the nation, will
also offer the screening to other veterans in the state and will include
a 24-hour hot line providing psychological counseling to veterans of all
military branches. The program is expected to cost $10.5 million a year.
“It’s been shown that the federal government simply was not prepared to
deal with the number of war injured coming home from Iraq and
Afghanistan,” said Tammy Duckworth, the director of the Illinois
Department of Veterans Affairs and a former Blackhawk helicopter pilot
who lost both legs on active duty in Iraq.
“This is a way that we in Illinois can react much more quickly,” Ms.
Duckworth said at a news conference with Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, a
Democrat.
There are currently 1,100 members of the Illinois Army National Guard
serving, or preparing to serve, in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Traumatic brain injuries afflict 14 percent to 20 percent of military
service members, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury
Center, a federally financed program. The injuries, which are often
caused by roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, are believed to be
more common among soldiers who have served in those conflicts, the
center estimates.
Veterans hospitals screen patients, including those who have served in
the National Guard, for traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic
stress disorder, said Maureen Dyman, a spokeswoman for Hines Veterans
Affairs Hospital in Chicago. Anybody who registers for first-time care
must take part in the screening, Ms. Dyman said.
Ms. Duckworth said one goal of the new state program is to catch the
milder form of brain injuries in National Guard veterans who show no
other sign of injury and who would have no reason to seek care at a
hospital. The program is mandatory only for National Guard members
because the state has no authority over the military branches.
“It is obvious to everybody there is a need for more psychological care
for our service members,” said Ms. Duckworth, a Democrat, who ran
unsuccessfully for Congress last year.
Severe and even some moderate traumatic brain injuries are usually
obvious and easy to detect, said Dr. Felise S. Zollman, medical director
of the brain injury program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago,
which will help the state carry out the new program. But mild brain
injuries often go undetected, with their symptoms of irritability,
headaches, dizziness and a foggy feeling in the head, Dr. Zollman said.
The mandatory screening would consist of a written questionnaire, an
assessment by a medical professional, and a professional interpretation
of the results, Dr. Zollman said. Service members believed to show
symptoms of a brain injury would be referred for assessment and further
treatment at a veterans’ center.
“This is really good news for veterans,” said Paul Sullivan, the
executive director of Veterans for Common Sense in Washington, who
served in the Army in the Persian Gulf war. “It’s limited in scope, but
the State of Illinois is absolutely doing the right thing.”
It makes sense for states to take on the responsibility for the
screening, Mr. Sullivan said.
“It’s much easier for the state to do this, because they only have tens
of thousands — and in the larger states, hundreds of thousands — of new
war veterans to deal with,” Mr. Sullivan said. “In contrast, the federal
government has 1.6 million service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars to try to screen.”
About half of the $10.5 million cost of the Illinois program would come
from the current state budget, Mr. Blagojevich said, and the remainder
is expected to be allocated in next year’s budget. The Legislature has
been struggling to pass a budget for weeks, and on Thursday it will
begin a special session that Mr. Blagojevich said would last “however
long it takes” to pass an approved budget.
“Maybe I always see the glass as half full, but I can’t imagine why we
wouldn’t get the money,” he said.
The Army, in the battery of tests it conducts on returning soldiers,
looks generally for traumatic brain injuries, known as T.B.I., but the
screening does not focus specifically on them, officials said.
“As the war has gone on and we realize that T.B.I. is one of the
significant injuries of the war, we have put more initiatives in place
to screen, diagnose and treat T.B.I.,” said Col. Elspeth C. Ritchie, the
psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general.
Soldiers returning from active duty undergo health assessments as well
as reassessments three months to six months later, Colonel Ritchie said.
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Larry Scott --
