Rehabilitation for Military Service Members Returning From Iraq and Afghanistan

These podcasts were inspired by the Perspective article, “Traumatic Brain Injury and Vestibular Pathology as a Comorbidity After Blast Exposure,” by CPT Matthew Scherer and Dr Michael Schubert.

This podcast is sponsored by

Files in this Data Supplement:

• Part 1: Impact of War Injuries on Rehabilitation Research - Participants: Benjamin Darter, PT, PhD; LTC Rachel Evans, PT, PhD, USA; COL(R) Rebecca Hooper, PT, PhD, USA. Moderator: Maj John Childs, PT, PhD, USAF, BSC, PTJ Editorial Board member.

  Advancements in medical intervention on the battlefield have resulted in dramatically improved survival rates compared with those of the Vietnam War—which means that many service members are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with complex injuries that have life-long implications, such as multiple limb loss, traumatic brain injury, and posttraumatic stress disorder. In Part 1, Childs, a member of the faculty at US Army-Baylor University, leads colleagues in a discussion about the impact of these war injuries on rehabilitation research priorities, funding, and infrastructure. Former Chief of Army Specialists Corps Hooper is program manager and Evans is research director at the Center for the Intrepid, a rehabilitation center specializing in amputation and burn injuries, adjacent to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Evans directs bone health and amputation research efforts for the Department of Defense. Darter is a civilian conducting lower-extremity amputation research in the Military Performance Lab at Center for the Intrepid and is an adjunct professor at Army-Baylor University.

  Running time: 23:48 (10.9 MB)

• Part 2: Impact of War Injuries on Clinical Practice - Participants: MAJ Stuart Campbell, PT, USA; John Fergason; CPT Mark Lester, PT, USA; CAPT Daniel Watson, PT, USAF. Guest Moderator: Maj Nicole Raney, USAF, PT.

  Moderating from her current assignment in the Iraq theatre, Raney, a Lackland Air Force Base administrator, focuses the discussion on the clinical implications of contemporary war injuries. Campbell is a physical therapist at the Center for the Intrepid, where Fergason is a civilian in the role of chief prosthetist. Lester is a physical therapist at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research (ISR) Burn Center, Brooke Army Medical Center, and Watson is a physical therapist who has just returned from Iraq.

  “This speaks greatly to APTA’s Vision 2020 and how military physical therapists, especially those deployed, are fulfilling this now, 10 years ahead of schedule.”
  
  “The soldiers begin working on higher-level functioning activities, including skydiving, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting.”
  
  “We want the soldiers to get the highest level of function that they can achieve. We’ve got soldiers who come here and do more now than before they got hurt.”
  
  “Some of what we saw as pretty intimidating injuries four or five years ago really aren’t so intimidating any more.”

  Running time: 22:59 (10.5 MB)

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