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Monday, September 19, 2011

Study: Medics Suffer Higher Depression Rates

Study: Medics Suffer Higher Depression Rates
September 17, 2011
Stars and Stripes|by Seth Robbins and Steven Beardsley


Combat medics serve double duty, both professionally and psychologically.

In addition to bearing all the responsibilities of soldiering, medics must calmly treat the devastating wounds of modern warfare: legs and arms mangled by roadside bombs, bodies peppered with shrapnel, arteries severed by high-velocity bullets.

They are more exposed than other soldiers to seriously wounded or dead fellow servicemembers.

Unlike hospital doctors or nurses, who rarely know their patients, medics have the added pressure of being close to the soldiers they are trying to keep alive.

And when one dies, medics often face self-doubt — an emotion they must hide or risk losing the platoon’s confidence, said Sgt. Joshua Hetisimer, 33, a senior medic with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, who has deployed three times.

It’s an awesome responsibility all medics embrace, said Sgt. Chad Howell, 29, of 557 Area Support Medical Company.

“Guys get hurt on the battlefield,” he said, “they look to us, they scream your name.”
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