Litigation

Brain Injury: The invisible injury

By Michael Kaplen

Recognizing that a person who has sustained a traumatic brain injury may appear to be ?normal? at the scene of the trauma,. the Pentagon has instituted a new program for soldiers that have been exposed to road side blasts. 

These soldiers 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 treatment policy the Pentagon is planning to release.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, Admiral Michael Mullen told USA Today that the policy change stems from growing concerns that troops suffer mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in combat ? or more than one ? and they go undetected,. "We need to treat ... more quickly and then we need to keep track of people," he said.

According to Air Force Col. Michael Jaffee, director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, research shows that 5%-to-15% of mild TBI cases lead to persistent problems such as short-term memory, problem-solving skills and headaches, Jaffee said.

Under the proposed guidelines, squad and platoon leaders working with medics or Navy corpsmen would pull from combat for at least 24 hours any servicemember who was in a vehicle or structure damaged by a blast, or who was standing within 55 yards of an explosion, Jaffee said.

The person would be checked for symptoms such as headaches, ears ringing and double vision, and then tested to assess short-term memory and concentration, with a score. If there are symptoms or a poor test score, the servicemember would stay out of combat until he or she improves, Jaffee said.

Read the full USA story: Pentagon focuses on brain trauma .

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on March 02, 2010 (boomark / email).