Troops Must Be Screened for Brain Injury Before, After Returning From Combat

[GAP]

Troops Must Be Screened for Brain Injury Before, After Returning From Combat, Task Force Says
[May 04, 2007]
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      The Department of Defense must screen U.S. troops for traumatic brain injury before and after they are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan to better determine whether they sustained brain damage in combat, according to a Congressional Brain Injury Task Force plan announced Thursday, USA Today reports. The task force also recommended improving brain-injury research and specialized care for what experts say is the "signature wound of these wars," according to USA Today.

Pentagon spokesperson Chuck Dasey said that between 10% and 20% of returning troops screened at military bases may have sustained brain injuries. Task force Chair Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) estimates that as many as 150,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan might have mild, moderate or severe brain injuries. Pascrell said, "The military was blindsided by the number of blast victims in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is clear that proper resources were never in place to care for them." Congress and the White House are negotiating a supplemental war appropriations bill that would provide $450 million for research and treatment of brain injuries.
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[LineDoggie]

I was standing on the Left of my M1114 in Baghdad (Just 100M south of Rte. Irish) on June 10th,2005  when a 130MM-155MM IED went off about 20M away on the right. I can tell you everything that happened until that point, next thing I remembered was laying on a curb 10M away wondering what happened to the Guy's on the right of the HMMWV. End result, Level III Concussion, Torn Rotator cuff, schrapnel cuts to my hands, helmet cover shredded, ACH helmet cracked,  Dont remember a thing in Between.