Traumatic Brain Injury in the Military

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is becoming a common wound of modern warfare.

While TBI is becoming more prevalent in wartime activity, many service men and women continue to go undiagnosed. Institutions, like the US Department of Veterans Affairs, are working to make quick and accurate diagnoses in order to prescribe appropriate and effective treatment.

TBI is caused by forced trauma to the head, either by being shaken or hit. The severity of a TBI varies from case to case, but symptoms range from mild concussions to a debilitating state. The majority of TBI’s acquired by military personnel are classified as mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI). Initial symptoms of MTBI consist of loss of consciousness, disorientation, loss of memory, headache, and temporary loss of hearing and vision. They are often partnered with anxiety, irritability, difficulties processing information, limited concentration amongst other problems experienced down the road.

While MTBI is most common amongst the men and women of the armed forces, more severe cases of TBI are happening much more frequently and often require the victim to attended specialty rehabilitative nursing centers, like CareMeridian.

The most common cause of a TBI in the military is due to blasts. There are three degrees of blast injuries where a TBI is common; Primary (due to blast itself), Secondary (due to objects being propelled by a blast) and Tertiary (due to a collision with a third party object).

According to the Veterans Health Initiative, active male members of the military from the ages 18-24 are hospitalized with a TBI at a rate of 231 per 100,000 and females 150 per 100,000. Based on military force projections this would mean that 4,141 military personnel are hospitalized on average each year with a TBI, and these numbers often rise during wartimes.

The best prevention for veterans to avert the long-term effects of a brain injury is to recognize the symptoms of a TBI. Once the symptoms are identified an individual should take basic precautionary measures in order to begin the healing and recovery process until a more specific diagnosis can be made.

Service men and women give so much to protect this country and they deserve to come home to a happy and healthy life. Creating awareness about TBI will help ensure their long term health. By helping our veterans, their friends and their families recognize the early warning signs of a TBI, treatment can be sought as early as possible.

This post was submitted and sponsored by Care Meridian

UPDATE – 12/21/09 @10pm EST

The party was so much fun… and we managed to raise $550 in ONE HOUR for the Wounded Warrior Project!! Much thanks to all those that participated and Whitefence.com for sponsoring as well as donating!!

Yes you read that right … I’m excited for a Monday. You see… This Monday I’ll be co-hosting a Twitter Party with WhiteFence.com , starting at 9pm EST.

If you aren’t familiar with WhiteFence, I highly recommend you check them out. WhiteFence is a free service that helps people who are moving or looking to find the best deals on phone, Internet, television, electricity, natural gas and other home services.

Now this is no normal Twitter Party, there will be no gifts to give away. However there it is opportunity to have some awesome conversation, share our tips/tricks and help our wounded warriors …
you see every tweet that includes the party hashtage (#wfparty) a $1 donation will go to the Wounded Warrior Foundation. (up to $2000)

So how can you help get involved and raise money?
Well @whitefence and I will be talking about how how to make the holidays special when you’re loved one is overseas.  All you have to do is join in the conversation on Twitter (make sure to include the hashtag )

Make sure you follow me (@tammymunson) and Whitefence (@whitefence) so you don’t miss this fun event!!!

So spread the word to not only raise  money but awareness as well. If  you would like to make your own donation to the Wounded Warrior Project , you do do so at the WWP site as well!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at tammy @ armyhousehold6.com

Hope to see you there !

Tammy

I’m so excited to be a part of Team Army to help raise money for our wounded warriors and Project Valour-IT! I’m asking all of my readers, friends, family and anyone else – to donate what you can to Valour-IT! All the money raised goes to help our wounded warriors!

If you can’t donate (for whatever reason) and you’re a blogger/website owner – at least help spread the world about it and join a team! (preferable TeamARMY) .

If you’d like to donate a product, service,etc for me to auction off here at Armyhousehold6.com , please email me.

So what is Valour-IT?

Project Valour-IT helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries.  Items supplied include:

• Voice-controlled Laptops – Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
  
• Wii Video Game Systems – Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
• Personal GPS – Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.You can read more about it here

courtesy of deltabravosierra.net

DoD’s expanded Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts  (MyCAA) program will provide up to $6,000 in Financial Assistance for  Military Spouses who are pursuing degree programs, licenses or credentials leading to employment  in portable career fields.

Financial Assistance pays expenses such as  education and training programs, tuition, licensing and credentialing fees  for degree programs (associates, bachelors, masters, doctoral and post  doctoral), continuing education classes (including those offered through  professional associations), Bar, CPA and other similar exams, state certifications for teachers, medical professionals and other licensed  professionals.

Who Is Eligible: Spouses of Active Duty members of the  Department of Defense and activated members of the National Guard and  Reserve Components are eligible. The period of eligibility for spouses of  Guard and Reserve members is from the date of the Alert or Warning Order for  Military Recall or Mobilization, through activation and deployment until 180  days following De-Mobilization. Spouses of the severely injured, ill,  wounded or killed in action are also eligible. Military spouses who are legally separated by state law or court order are ineligible. Spouses who  are active duty members or activated Guard or Reserve members themselves are  ineligible.

To Receive this Assistance, the Military Spouse only needs to  complete a MyCAA Career and Training Plan and then apply for MyCAA Financial Assistance. Eligible spouses can establish a MyCAA Account by visiting the  MyCAA website: https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa

For further information,  visit the MyCAA website at: https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa/default.aspx Due to the popularity of the MyCAA program, they are experiencing a  temporary backlog of about four weeks. Requests are processed in the order  they were received so plan accordingly when registering for training.

This time they added functionality to their iPhone application so you can use your iPhone to make deposits. How cool is that right??!!

Now I don’t have an iPhone (only an iTouch ) but it begs the question … Hey USAA what about the non-iPhone customers?? (people like me with blackberries and can’t get an iPhone right now)

SAN ANTONIO – USAA today launched the first mobile deposit capability for the iPhone, meaning qualifying banking members can now use their iPhones to deposit a check from ball fields, PTA meetings, neighborhood gatherings, or anywhere else they can get a wireless signal.

The new USAA Deposit@Mobile feature, available on the company’s popular USAA Mobile App for the iPhone is secure and simple to use. Eligible members can snap a photo of both sides of a signed check with their iPhone’s built-in camera, and then transmit the image to USAA through the phone. USAA systems immediately verify the deposit information and signature to complete the transaction.

The new capability builds on USAA’s Deposit@Home® service, introduced in 2006, which lets qualifying members scan and deposit checks using their home computer and scanner. In most cases, deposits are immediately available for use.

“Our members are on-the-go and need to be able to manage their accounts at all times, from any location,” said Wayne Peacock, USAA’s executive vice president of Enterprise Business Operations. “Nearly 50 percent of our 1 million mobile users are active-duty military, who may be deployed anywhere. The convenience of mobile access is essential to delivering the highest possible level of customer service.”

Here is a video of the demo (courtesy of the NY times.com)

Full disclosure – this is not a paid post, I do not receive any compensation from USAA  nor am I a consultant/representative of USAA

SGT Daddy and I have been customers of USAA for over 4 years now and we love them! They have made our lives so much easier for all of our banking and insurance needs! (wow that sounds like a commercial lol) Now when USAA came out with the Deposit at Home Feature , I thought I was in love.

When the USAA web application came out last year, I was like — ok they can’t top this one! (wait for it……)

They have! It’s the USAA iphone application! It is so cool! I saw a demo of it on my freind’s iPhone.

You can conduct trades, check account balences, transfer funds, find a local ATM (which is awesome), accident checklist and you can even request your auto insurance cards!

My ONLY complaint about it is that it is not available for the iTouch ipod . Although, I spoke with a rep from USAA who told me that that release would be coming out soon.

For those iTouch owners, once I hear about it I’ll be sure to let you know!

Want the app? you can get it here : https://www.usaa.com/iphone

I’ll be honest I look forward to the LAST case lot sale of the summer because that means that the new school year is right around is right around the corner.

According to DECA (Defense Commissary Agency ) :

The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is sponsoring its first worldwide case lot sale of 2009 in May, offering about 100 more products than last year’s 260.

To find out when your local commissary will be having there Case Lot Sale, click here

As I posted last week, April is the month of the military child. This special celebration is a legacy of former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger – established to highlight the important role our kids play in the military community.

I will continue to be highlighting a resource or event each week in April that is dedicating to helping celebrate our military kids.

This week’s resource is Operation Military Kids

Operation: Military Kids (OMK) offers military kids lots of fun, educational and recreational activities. Military kids can attend summer camps and activities to connect with other military kids who are going through the same thing as they are.

Kids can also attend Mobile Technology Lab events to learn about new technology so that they can stay in touch with their deployed parent a bit easier and more frequently.

They can also join their state’s Speak Out for Military Kids – OMK’s Speakers Bureau- to serve as an military kid advocate  in their own community and/or state.

You can find out more about Operation Military Kids by going to their site ,  www.operationmilitarykids.org