DECEMBER 7, 2009
VA Said To Be Working To Provide Better Mental Healthcare To Returning Vets.
According to the Whittier (CA) Daily News (12/6), "now that the war in Iraq is winding down and President Obama has set a timetable for a looming 30,000-troop surge in Afghanistan, some experts said the country is not prepared to cope when soldiers battling post traumatic stress disorder compounded by multiple combat tours start returning en masse." The Department of Veterans Affairs, however, "has steadily rolled out mental health programs, launching a suicide prevention" hotline "in 2007 that includes an online chat feature. Some newly returned veterans said they are satisfied with services provided by the VA, but others complained it is slow and difficult to get timely help. But the VA is working to provide more mental health programs and facilities, staff all VA hospital emergency rooms with mental health experts and standardize mental health care nationwide, said Dorene Lowe, VA psychologist and director of trauma recovery programs in Palo Alto."Impact: Mental health
VA Medical Personnel Treating Wounded In Afghanistan.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/7) notes that "doctors, nurses and technicians in the Army Reserve 452nd Combat Support Hospital" are serving at Camp Salerno, a forward operating base in Afghanistan. The hospital there "handles most casualties in three eastern Afghanistan provinces -- Khost, Paktia and Paktika -- including all the serious injuries" to US "and coalition forces and some to Afghan security forces and civilians." After noting that Lt. Col. Barbara Pilak, the 452nd's second in command, works as a burse at Milwaukee's Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Journal Sentinel adds, "Blood used in the Salerno hospital, as at other" US "medical facilities in Afghanistan, comes through the military supply chain made up mostly of military donors at American training centers. It's shipped to Afghanistan within a week and must be used within 42 days, said 1st Lt. Tate O'Kelly, who works as a medical technician at the VA hospital in Appleton."Impact: care in Afghanistan
Training To Begin For Veterans Court Initiative In Wisconsin.
The La Crosse (WI) Tribune (12/7) reports, "The new La Crosse County Veterans Court Initiative kicks off training today for the mentors who will assist veterans in the legal system, said initiative chairman and county Circuit Judge Todd Bjerke." The "group chosen for the La Crosse County Veterans Court Initiative Mentors Program will spend" Monday "and Tuesday learning about the court process, available resources, interviewing techniques" and the Veterans Affairs system. Training "will be completed by Jan. 1, after which they will then be assigned to veterans in the legal system."A Veteran's Legal Battle.
In an editorial, the Washington Post (12/7) says it was "extraordinary" when a "unanimous Supreme Court tossed out a death sentence" last week against Florida inmate George Porter Jr., a "Korean War veteran with two Purple Hearts." According to the Post, the justices rightly "lambasted the defense lawyer's failure to introduce mitigating evidence -- including military service and possible post-traumatic stress -- that could have led to a reduced sentence." The Post goes on to say it wonders "how many other defendants with 'troubled histories' but without Purple Hearts have been failed by their lawyers and are still awaiting justice."Impact: Criminal Justice System