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YESTERDAY'S VETERANS, AND TODAY'S -- California
Vets Home
plans program to support returning disabled
troops.
Story here...
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/
2006/11/11/news/local_top_story/doc4555654d4dbbf733206575.txt
Story below:
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Yesterday’s veterans - and today’s
By JULISSA McKINNON
Register Staff Writer
As the nation pauses to salute veterans today, the leaders of the
Veterans Home of California at Yountville aren’t just looking back.
They are asking how to address the needs of our newest veterans, the
recently returned soldiers of the Iraq war.
For the past year the Veterans Home administrators have been working to
launch a rehabilitation program that would treat 40 injured and
traumatized soldiers for six months at a time.
So far administrators say the major obstacles to starting this program
are funding — estimated costs are $1.5 million a year — and obtaining
approvals from the Legislature and other state authorities.
“We’re seeing many veterans who are leaving the (Veterans
Administration) hospitals who still need transitional assistance to get
back on their feet,” said Marcella McCormack, administrator of the
Yountville Home. “These soldiers have been exposed to acts of terrorism,
guerilla warfare and suicide bombings. We’re looking to act as a bridge
for them back into society so they can reach out and become productive
citizens. We do not want to have what we had after Vietnam where so many
veterans ended up on the streets.”
Unlike past wars, advanced surgical technology and body armor are
allowing soldiers to survive severe blasts that were often fatal in wars
past, McCormack said.
In the Vietnam war, seven out of every 10 soldiers who suffered
life-threatening injuries died, according to McCormack. In the current
Iraq war, she said the trend has reversed and statistics show for every
10 severely injured soldiers, seven survive.
McCormack said it’s not uncommon for blast injuries to result in the
loss of limbs and post traumatic stress disorder — a psychiatric
condition often caused by witnessing life-threatening events such as
military combat.
According to a survey commissioned by the U.S. Army Surgeon General, at
least 10 percent of soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom exhibited
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in 2004.
Due to the existing need, McCormack envisions the rehabilitation program
serving 20 veterans dealing with severe mental trauma and 20 veterans
with severe physical injuries, such as the loss of limbs.
The 579th engineering battalion of the California National Guard has
pledged to repair and polish up Madison Hall to house the Home’s 40 new
veterans.
But caring for these individuals involves more than renovating a
residence hall and preparing 40 beds for 20 rooms.
Dr. Michael Loftus, the Home’s chief medical officer, anticipates the
need for additional and more specialized physicians, physical
therapists, psychiatrists and social workers. Marriage and family
therapy should also be a component of the program, since many of the
soldiers fighting in today’s war have been older reservists with
families, McCormack said.
Treating PTSD ought to be a focus, Loftus said.
“In many cases it’s a matter of them being able to adjust back to a
civilian lifestyle. They can be frightened a lot by noises that bring
back bad memories. There can be a lot of withdrawal, anxiety and
insecurity issues that will have to be addressed,” Loftus said.
Recovering from severe physical injuries also involves mental therapy,
as veterans learn to accept and adapt to their losses, Loftus said.
“There’s a sense of loss that’s more than just the loss of the limb.
There’s a loss of self-image that has to be addressed,” Loftus said.
“The idea is to begin emphasizing your abilities rather than the
disability.”
Even though the overwhelming majority of the approximately 1,100
veterans now residing at the Yountville Home are older than 70,
McCormack said she believes the younger veterans will be warmly welcomed
and will ultimately fit in fine.
“You have a Marine who was 20 when he fought in Iwo Jima, and a
20-year-old coming back from Iraq. Those similar shared experiences are
going to bind them together and melt away the time differences. They’ll
discover that what they fear is similar. This will be a more supportive
environment for their recovery than what they’ll find out there.”
McCormack said the urgency of starting this program grows every day as
more and more veterans return home with needs that surpass the level and
length of care available at traditional VA hospitals.
“If they gave us the money tomorrow we could turn it around in a month.
If we had the dollars getting the staff would be the least of our
worries,” McCormack said.
Several donors have committed to making contributions, which
collectively could fund the program for one to two years, according to
Bart Buechner, the Home’s deputy administrator. But he said the Vets
Home is seeking government backing to ensure the program is supported
for the long term.
“We don’t want to go into it blinded and under-funded. We don’t want to
promise we can give a certain level of care and not be able to deliver,”
McCormack said. “We’re going in with a plan and we’re hustling to
convince the Legislature that it’s a worthy plan.”
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Larry Scott
