Military medical staff "ill prepared" to take care of wounded

The government deciding to send the troops into two wars did not care enough to get ready for what these wars would produce. It is as simple and sickening as that. There were more doctors and nurses working for the VA during the Gulf War. They may use the excuse they thought these wars would be over fast, but history offered a warning they did not take seriously.

Next time a President or Congress decides to send troops into combat, they should have to go too and then maybe, just maybe, they would plan for the wounded ahead of time.

Now the percentage of amputations from Iraq and Afghanistan have passed the rates from Vietnam. Part of that is due to the medical care they receive right after being wounded. The problem is, what comes after their "Alive Day" is something else they have to fight and wait for.

Beyond The Battlefield: Unprepared For Wave Of Severely Wounded, Bureaucracy Still Catching Up

David Wood

"Beyond The Battlefield" is a 10-part series exploring the challenges that severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan face after they return home, as well as what those struggles mean for those close to them. Learn how you can help here. Other stories in the series can be found here. Listen to reporter David Wood discuss "Beyond The Battlefield" with NPR's Terry Gross here. Wood and wounded veteran Bobby Henline will hold a live video chat this Friday. See more details and send them questions.

A decade of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq has left thousands of young Americans suffering with severe pain from amputated limbs, burned flesh, lacerations, shrapnel punctures and traumatic brain damage, injuries that kept them in intensive care for months or years.

Yet military doctors and nurses felt they were "ill prepared" to manage their patients' pain, an Army task force reported in May 2010.

The scope and ferocity of the wars caught the medical system serving the U.S. military and its veterans flat-footed. No one was ready for IEDs and the distinctive pattern of terrible wounds they would cause. No one was ready for the war to extend beyond a decade. No one was ready for the massive numbers of wounded, the severity of their wounds or the resulting strain on the broader system.
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