Walter Reed

by Nancy Scola, Sun Feb 18, 2007 at 02:55:41 PM EST

It's so sadly par-for-the-course these days that we would provide what seems to be excellent initial medical treatment for soldiers injured in Iraq and other wars, and then completely drop the ball from that point forward. Turns out that logistics, paperwork, all that boring stuff of governing matters! According an article by Dana Priest and Anne Hull, it takes 22 forms for a soldier to get into the medical system at Walter Reed. It takes 16 different IT systems to process those forms. The Army's three different personnel databases, pay system, and medical record system are all incompatible. John Aravosis is ticked off by an AP story that highlights the "paperwork" of the Washington Post piece, but it's why I have an obsession about IT policy that seems geeky and a bit strange to even those who love me -- managing information flow is hard work, it's not at all sexy, but boy, does it matter.

Walter Reed commander Maj. Gen. Weightman says that soldiers stay caught in the system for so long in the first place, rather than be discharged, is that in this "so long" all-volunteer war we can't afford to lose them. For understanding how so many bad consequences can ripple out from just a few stupid decisions, what's happening at Walter Reed is a useful illustration. Then you remember that these are people, and soldiers. And it just makes you sick.

Anyone know of good organizations we can contribute to and make the lives of these men and women a bit better?

Tags: Iraq War, IT policy, Walter Reed (all tags)

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9 Comments

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Re: Walter Reed

The Intrepid Foundation seems pretty worthy.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund has completed construction of a world-class state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation facility for wounded warrior at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Center will open on January 29 with a grand ceremony attended by Senators John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Veterans Affairs Secretary James R. Nicholson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace, USMC, and government and military leaders at the highest levels. 3,000 supporters will join the event.

The Center will serve military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Center will also serve military personnel and veterans severely injured in other operations and in the normal performance of their duties, combat and non-combat related.


by Texas Nate 2007-02-18 03:48PM | 0 recs
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Re: Intrepid Heroes

Yes, that facility in San Antonio is crucial in helping the rehab of our military burn victims, who all end up here.  But it is all private donations that built it - the US Govt did not do its duty, good corporate (and other) citizens stepped to to provide what the Bushite Regime did not provide.  For shame.

Every mil med cen should have a similar facility for the rehab of our wounded military.  They shouldn't have to come to San Antonio if their families live elsewhere.  Those families have to pay for temporary family housing (not enough units of that) or the cheap hot-sheet motels that line I-35 near BAMC.

Last month in the commissary at Ft Sam, I was reaching around a BDU uniformed soldier for an item on the shelf, instead, he grabbed it and turned around to hand it to me.  He had no face, just two eyes and two nose holes in scar tissue.  He was one of the most beautiful souls I have ever met, and he needs to be with his loved ones, not 1800 miles away.

by dksbook 2007-02-18 07:19PM | 0 recs
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books
In a slightly different vein, I've heard great things about Books for Soldiers from people I trust. The program requires that volunteers register and even pay a small fee. That actually gives me some amount of confidence.
by Nancy Scola 2007-02-19 05:09PM | 0 recs
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Scratch the part about a fee
Turns out they ended that back in 2005. What's required now is a notarized application.
by Nancy Scola 2007-02-19 05:23PM | 0 recs
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Re: The result of success oriented planning

no doubt. I used to attend Jim Leach's community forums where many vets would tell horror stories about the chap they had to put up with at the VA Hospital in Iowa City, And it would always end the same way with Jim Leach claiming that the Iowa City VA Hospital was the finest in  the nation. At the time I thought that was BS but maybe Leach was right. I hope not, I would rather believe that Jim was a liar.

by JSN 2007-02-18 03:52PM | 0 recs
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Re: Walter Reed

Thanks for the articles that made me cry, Nancy.

I spent a couple of decades supporting a husband with traumatic brain injury, and it takes a lot of strength to keep making the speech telling the neurosurgeons and therapists and everybody else that he has a master's degree, that he taught school for a decade, that underneath the hemiplegia and the inability to speak intelligibly and the Frankenstein surgical scars, there's still a 140 IQ I can reach and a powerful soul.

(And yes, I made sure he could get to the polling place and vote. I suppose people thought I was doubling my vote, but actually he voted for Clinton and I voted for Perot each presidential election.)

These military guys will have a really hard time getting by on their own, and my prayers go with them.

by joyful alternative 2007-02-18 08:10PM | 0 recs
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Re: Walter Reed

so this is how the greatest country in the world treats its warriors.how disspicable.but hey weve got god on are money and in our pledge so we must be good right.

by idahojim 2007-02-19 02:54AM | 0 recs
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Re: Walter Reed

There is a group called IAVA (Iraq Afghani Veterans Association) that is raising money for mental health issues for returning vets.

I think their web site is www.iava.org

by hopeful 2007-02-19 05:57AM | 0 recs
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Re: Walter Reed

Update: Organization is not just for mental health. Also for ending the war. It is a 501(c)(3) for anyone who cares.

by hopeful 2007-02-19 05:59AM | 0 recs

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