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Advances in battlefield medicine are helping to save the lives of service
men and women who might otherwise have died as the result of traumatic injuries.
However, once they are out of immediate danger, they often face prolonged
periods of recovery and rehabilitation marked by frustration and pain.
More than 30,000 soldiers have been wounded in action in Iraq and another
2,000 soldiers have been inured in Afghanistan.1 Pain is a leading
cause of disability among veterans.1 Nearly half of those returning
from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan report pain-related problems.1
One major concern is the long term care and well being of service men
and women who are returning to the US with amputations and other blast related
injuries, according to the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) a non-profit
organization representing people who have experienced amputation or are
born with limb differences.
The Military And Veterans Pain Care Acts Signed
Into Law
Fortunately, the American Pain Foundation and an alliance of patient
advocacy organizations have banded together to improve the care of returning
service men and women. Two major
pain care bills - the Veterans Pain Care Policy Act and the Military
Pain Care Policy Act of 2008 were recently signed into law. They call for
critical pain care policy improvements for military personnel and veterans.
For more information, visit the American Pain Foundation website at:
http://www.painfoundation.org
Resources
1American Pain Foundation
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Partners Against Pain brings you a special podcast
on the challenges military personnel are facing
in dealing with the pain following combat and blast-related
injuries.
Click to listen the podcast
Lee Woodruff
Lee Woodruff, a national advocate for injured
military personnel, speaks with
Dr. Gerald Q. Greenfield, Colonel, U.S. Army
(retired) and president-elect of the American Academy
of Pain Management; Army corporal
Shane Parsons, who was seriously injured by
a roadside bomb while driving the lead humvee for
a routine mission in Iraq with his platoon; and
Shane's mother
Cindy Parsons, an emergency room nurse from
Fostoria, OH, who immediately flew to Germany to
be by Shane's bedside as he recovered from the blast
which left him with a traumatic brain injury and
forced amputations above the knee to both of his
legs.
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