Bloggers Roundtable April5, 2011-- Programs and Initiatives for Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) Among Service Members and Veterans. If you are in crisis right now, please call 866-966-1020 or click for details.
Kathy Helmick, Deputy Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), presented on the Blogger Roundtable today. Listen to the roundtable here.
The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) mission is to assess, validate, oversee, and facilitate prevention, resilience, identification, treatment, outreach, rehabilitation, and reintegration programs for psychological health and traumatic braininjury to ensure the Department of Defense meets the needs of the nation's military communities, warriors and families. For more information on the DCoE, please visit http://dcoe.health.mil/.
Helmick recently shared developments in the area of TBI in her blog post, "Hot Topics" in the Treatment of TBI.
You can now check out DCoE's new information sheet on traumatic brain injury for current and important information for service members, veterans and their families. Additional DCoE information sheets highlighting various DCoE programs and component centers are also available on the DCoE website.
KEY TAKE AWAY: Helmick addressed the point that families and warriors get overloaded with INFORMATION regarding TBI from all angles. The one website she recommends is a one stop shop located at Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) www.dvbic.org
Personally, I love what the Real Warriors Campaign does for our warriors with TBI and their families.The Real Warriors Campaign is an initiative launched by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) to promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning service members, veterans and their families.
WHAT IS A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the result of a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of such an injury may range from "mild"—a brief change in mental status or consciousness—to "severe," an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. The terms "concussion" and "mild TBI" (mTBI) are interchangeable.A TBI classified as moderate or severe can result in short-term or long-term problems with independent function. Most TBIs are mild, and those who sustain them usually recover completely within 1 to 3 months.
What Causes TBI? Continue reading here.
TBI & The Military: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant health issue which affects service members and veterans during times of both peace and war. The high rate of TBI and blast-related concussion events resulting from current combat operations directly impacts the health and safety of individual service members and subsequently the level of unit readiness and troop retention. The impacts of TBI are felt within each branch of the service and throughout both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care systems. Read more on TBI here.
The mission of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is to serve active duty military, their beneficiaries, and veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) through state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative clinical research initiatives and educational programs. DVBIC fulfills this mission through ongoing collaboration with military, VA and civilian health partners, local communities, families and individuals with TBI.
In 2008, DVBIC's mission expanded to include Force Health Protection and Management. This encompasses the following Department of Defense (DoD) programs:
- TBI Surveillance
- TBI Registry
- Pre-deployment neurocognitive testing
- Family Caregiver Curriculum
- 15 year longitudinal study of TBI
- Independent study of automated neurocognitive tests
Listen to the roundtable here.
A few months ago, NPR and ProPublica published an investigation about five soldiers who suffered traumatic brain injuries from the same explosion in Iraq. The report also explored the cognitive and emotional problems they've been having ever since. Twelve days later, one of the soldiers piled an armload of guns and semi-automatic weapons into his pickup and led police on a high-speed chase across North Dakota. Read and listen to Brock Savekoul's story: 'Suicide By Cop' Leads Soldier On Chase Of His Life by T. Christian Miller and Daniel Zwerdling
Frontline medicine is always brutal, but for some U.S. troops injured in Iraq, the real fight begins when they come home. Read the whole story here.
Click here for more stories on TBI in the Media.
Enter your information here and click Signup to be added to the DVBIC Brainwaves newsletter e-mail list. Ensure our emails reach your inbox - add info@dvbic.org to your address book.
This information is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of your physician. Consult your doctor regularly about matters concerning your health, particularly regarding symptoms that require diagnosis or immediate medical attention. See below for crisis information.
24/7 SUPPORT
CRISIS INTERVENTION (24/7)
US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Suicide Prevention Hotline
1.800.237.8255
Military OneSource
1.800.342.9647
Help for active duty military and their dependents, including 12 free non-medical counseling appointments.
INFORMATION & REFERRAL (24/7)
Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE)
Outreach Call Center
1.866.966.1020
Information and education on behavioral health and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Download pdf information sheet.
Navy Safe Harbor
1.877.746.8563
US Marine Corps
Wounded Warrior Regiment
1.877.487.6299
Wounded Warrior Resource Call Center
1.800.342.9647
Help with questions about care of our wounded ill and injured.
INFORMATION & REFERRAL (BUSINESS HOURS)
Air Force Wounded Warrior Program (AFW2)
1.800.581.9437
7:00 AM - 4:00 PM (CST), M-F
Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC)
1.800.870.9244
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM (EST), M-F
US Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2)
1.800.237.1336
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM (EST), M-F
