Only 19 percent of medical evacuations in Mideast battle-related

Data: Only 19 percent of medical evacuations in Mideast battle-related
By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, March 17, 2010


TOKYO — Only one out of five medical evacuations of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan in the past eight years were diagnosed as battle-related injuries, according to a new analysis by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.

During the same time, evacuations for mental disorders rose drastically, from 61 instances in 2002 to 1,014 in 2008, the last full year analyzed.

The majority of the medical evacuations from Iraq and Afghanistan occurred because of injuries classified as happening outside the battlefield, including back and knee problems, mental disorders, and other physical problems such as digestive, respiratory or urinary symptoms, according to the report.

The analysis was the first of its kind to look comprehensively at all 52,283 medical evacuations from October 2001 to September 2009, according to Army Col. Robert DeFraites, a preventive medicine doctor who directs the center.
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