PACT fostering pets of military members and sick pet parents

When people get sick or military members deploy, PACT finds free foster care for their pets

Philadelphia Enquirer
by Natalie Pompilio
March 18, 2020

“I had no dog to come home to,” said King, who lives in Newark, Del. “It broke me like you wouldn’t believe.”

But after a stressful combat tour in Afghanistan, he adopted Bandit, a Rottweiler mix, who stayed by his side as he dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder. Soon after, King found Ruger, a puppy who’d been used as a bait dog by a dog-fighting ring.

When King learned he was being deployed again, this time for six months, he turned to PACT.

COURTESY OF MIKE KING
Mike King (center) had a joyful reunion with his dogs after returning home from overseas deployment. His dogs were fostered by Gin Keefer and John Melleady (standing) while he was away.

In 2011, Buzz Miller was disturbed to learn that some deploying military members surrendered their dogs and cats to animal shelters because they had no one to care for the pets while they were away.

That prompted him to create PACT for Animals, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that finds free foster homes for animals of deployed members of the military and for hospitalized patients of all ages.

PACT (an acronym for “People + Animals = Companions Together”) has 250 foster homes in the Greater Philadelphia area and 450 more throughout the country. Since 2011, the organization has arranged temporary homes for more than 1,000 pets.

“I’m all about the human-animal bond,” said Miller, 78, an “animal nut” who left his 35-year law career for PACT. “I can’t stand the thought of a military person going to Iraq or fighting ISIS and they have to give up their animal. I can’t let a kid fighting cancer or heart problems at CHOP lose his animal.”
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UK Veteran paid ultimate price after being redeployed with PTSD

'HE WANTED TO END THE NIGHTMARES' Soldier who fought alongside Prince Harry in Afghanistan hanged himself after clearing explosives ‘without being qualified’
The Sun
By Rob Pattinson and Aletha Adu
5th July 2018

Hunt was deployed to Helmand Province in 2008 and sent back in 2009 despite showing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt served with Prince Harry, fifth right, in Afghanistan in 2008

A SOLDIER who hanged himself after fighting alongside Prince Harry cleared explosives in Afghanistan without being qualified, an inquest heard.

Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt, 39, protected the prince and was mentioned in dispatches for saving hundreds of comrades.

Today a Lincoln inquest heard the Royal Engineer had not been properly trained for the nerve-racking combat role and suffered years of nightmares back home.

His ex-wife Lainey Hunt, a Warrant Officer with 32 Engineer Regiment, like her husband, told the hearing: "From 2008 to the day he died Nathan suffered.

"He suffered from nightmares and sleeplessness, and I would see him crying.

"I do believe Nathan wanted to end the nightmares and decided to end his life that night."
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Camp Lejeune doctor files whistleblower suit claiming mishandling of TBI, PTSD

Fired doctor files whistleblower suit claiming mishandling of TBI, PTSD cases
Dr. Kernan Manion, Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital psychiatrist, filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming his contract with the hospital was wrongfully terminated in 2009.
LANCE CPL. SCOTT W. WHITING
By AMANDA WILCOX
The Daily News
Published: September 10, 2012

A former Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital psychiatrist who claimed his contract with the hospital was wrongfully terminated in 2009 has recently filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

In the lawsuit, Dr. Kernan Manion, a board certified psychiatrist for more than 25 years, claims he was wrongfully terminated for reporting mishandled cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune Health Center. He also claims the center lacked the safety protocols necessary to protect those at the base from patients who were diagnosed as potentially violent to themselves or others.

Manion filed the lawsuit against the contracting companies that hired him to work at the hospital: Spectrum Healthcare Resources and Nitelines Kuhana JV LLC.

Manion was hired in early 2009 by Spectrum and Nitelines to provide psychiatric treatment to service members returning from deployment. The suit noted that many of Manion’s patients suffered from PTSD or TBI, and Manion believed he was “under constant pressure from his superior to rate patients as acceptable for deployment ... even in circumstances where patients were diagnosed as posing a violent threat to themselves or others or were dangerous for combat deployment due to the presence of a significant mental illness,” according to the lawsuit

The suit describes two cases in which Manion witnessed violent acts by his patients, one of which recounts a post-deployment Marine who, in a diagnosed psychotic rage, repeatedly karate-punched a table and stormed out of his session. There was “no support available nor even protocol in place to contain or subdue the patient ... or to emergently and safely get him to urgent care,” according to the suit.
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Deployment of PTSD soldier sparks protest at Fort Campbell

UPDATE

Returned AWOL soldier enters treatment program


By KRISTIN M. HALL
The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 11, 2011; 2:31 PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The wife of a formerly AWOL Fort Campbell soldier who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan said her husband has entered a mental health treatment program instead.

Protests at Fort Campbell Over Deployment of Wounded Soldier
Monday 10 January 2011
by: Sarah Lazare & Ryan Harvey | Even if Your Voice Shakes | Report

A soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky is being forced to return to Afghanistan this week amidst claims he is not fit to deploy because he has not received treatment promised by the Army for severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sustained during his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jeff Hanks deployed to Afghanistan early last year with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He returned to the base on leave from Afghanistan this past September, where he sought and was denied treatment on two separate military bases for traumatic injuries sustained in combat.

Hanks subsequently refused to redeploy and was forced to go Absent Without Official Leave in order to get medical attention from civilian professionals.

Now, less than two months after surrendering himself at Fort Campbell, the Army Specialist awaits imminent redeployment to Afghanistan against his wishes and against the advice of his team of medical professionals.

Seeking help in fighting for his right to heal, Hanks contacted Operation Recovery, a joint-campaign of Iraq Veterans Against the War and the Civilian-Soldier Alliance, which seeks to end the re-deployment of traumatized and wounded soldiers.
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Protests at Fort Campbell Over Deployment of Wounded Soldier

PTSD and redeployed:Whittier Family's story

Whittier family's wounds of war compounded by multiple deployments
By Bethania Palma Markus, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/06/2009 06:01:54 AM PST
WHITTIER - Rossana Cambran choked back tears as she recalled watching her son, Arturo Cambron Jr., suffer a flashback.

The now-26-year-old Army soldier was at home on leave in between combat tours in Iraq. He had just returned from a night out with friends when something triggered a memory from a not-so-distant but traumatic past.

Suddenly, she said, her third of four children lost touch with reality and thought he was back in a war zone thousands of miles away.

"He was on the ground outside acting like he was on a walkie talkie, giving coordinates to his buddies," the 53-year-old Whittier woman said. "He was yelling really loud."

The next day, she said, Arturo Jr. told her flashbacks are commonplace on his military base, and some experts believe the Cambron family's experience could be a harbinger of things to come.

The current wars in the Middle East have stretched on past the eight-year mark, making them the longest major conflicts in recent U.S. history to be fought without a draft.

With a limited number of soldiers doing all the fighting, an increasing number have been deployed multiple times into combat. But now that the war in Iraq is winding down and President Obama has set a timetable for a looming 30,000-troop surge in Afghanistan, some experts said the country is not prepared to cope

Rossana Cambron holds a childhood picture of her son Arturo Jr., Thursday night, December 3, 2009 in her Whittier home. Mrs. Cambron says her son, who is on his second tour of combat duty in Iraq, was already showing signs of PTSD with flashback episodes after his first tour. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)when soldiers battling post traumatic stress disorder compounded by multiple combat tours start returning en masse.
read more here
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_13939753

Anti-war cafe opens in the shadow of Fort Hood

Anti-war cafe opens in the shadow of Fort Hood
Off-post, soldiers can let down their guard and open up about the war at Under the Hood cafe.
By Jeremy Schwartz

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Saturday, August 15, 2009

KILLEEN — Past the barber shops advertising $6 military cuts, weapons stores and used car lots, an anti-war coffeehouse occupies a small wooden house on a corner of Texas' biggest Army town. Six months after opening, the Under the Hood cafe has become home to a growing number of veterans and active-duty soldiers who are beginning to question America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Less than a mile from the gates of 53,000-troop Fort Hood, the cafe is a place where soldiers, many of them fresh off of multiple deployments, can swap stories and ideas without fear of retribution, its supporters say.

It has also become a refuge for soldiers who are refusing to deploy — or are thinking about it — including Spc. Victor Agosto, who last week was sentenced to 30 days in jail for refusing an order. Another Fort Hood soldier, Sgt. Travis Bishop, an Iraq veteran who has applied for conscientious objector status, was sentenced Friday to a year in federal prison for refusing to deploy with his unit to Afghanistan.

Not since the heyday of the Oleo Strut coffeehouse, the hub for the anti-war movement in Killeen during the Vietnam War, has such an enterprise thrived here. But unlike its predecessor, which closed in 1972, Under the Hood has for its driving force a newcomer to the peace movement, a 17-year Army wife with no history of activism.

The cafe is run by Cynthia Thomas, a former stay-at-home mom who didn't become politically active until 2007, when her husband, a Fort Hood soldier, was sent on his third deployment to Iraq. Thomas said she was furious about his deployment; she said her husband was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other maladies from a previous tour. When her stepson decided to join the Marines, she said she felt compelled to take a stand against the war.
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Anti war cafe opens in the shadow of Fort Hood

Silver Star, PTSD but cleared by Army Doctor?

A hero is bound by war's stress
Sergeant earned Silver Star in '04
By Barbara Barrett - Washington correspondent
Published: Tue, Apr. 14, 2009
WASHINGTON -- As 4,000 N.C. National Guard soldiers bid farewell today for their second tour in Iraq, they head out without one of the brigade's most honored platoon sergeants.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Chad Stephens, who earned a Silver Star for valor during a Baqubah firefight in 2004, isn't going back this time.

Instead, he will remain in North Carolina, living with his wife and son in the small town of Ahoskie and continuing his work at the Guard's armory in Williamston.


Stephens was sent home in January from training at Camp Shelby, Miss., after coming forward with civilian medical records that showed Stephens, 41, continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder related to his first tour in Iraq.

During a daylong battle in Baqubah in June 2004, Stephens ran through heavy gunfire to pull a young gunner from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The gunner, Spc. Daniel A. Desens Jr., died from his wounds. Stephens remains close to Desens' parents.

His story was told in The News & Observer in November 2007 in a series called "The Promise." In it, Stephens described the difficulties he faced getting help for combat-related stress.

Stephens also wasn't sure then whether he should return to Iraq.

Last fall, he was cleared by an Army medical doctor for the brigade's second tour.

But he also carried paperwork from two psychiatrists -- a civilian doctor and a Veterans Affairs doctor -- who recommended he not return to a war zone.
go here for more
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1484714.html
linked from
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

PTSD:Iraq vet recalled to go to Afghanistan

Iraq vet recalled to go to Afghanistan

BY ROY WENZL
The Wichita Eagle

Here's what Jon Bland has done for our country so far:
After the New York towers burned on 9/11, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, qualified for officer training, and -- to the dismay of his wife and parents -- volunteered for combat duty. "I wanted to do something for my country," he said at the time.

He spent 15 months on an extended combat tour in Baghdad, leading a U.S. Army scout platoon on daily patrols, hunting for insurgents during the surge. His 20-man platoon captured more than 60 insurgents.

He lost 40 pounds walking around carrying 80 pounds of armor, rifle and bullets under the desert sun. He picked up body parts of American soldiers blown up in roadside bombings. He called in helicopter strikes on snipers.

He saw Sgt. Alex Funcheon of Wichita blown up right in front of him.

He won the Bronze Star for service in combat. He acquired what his clinical psychologist later wrote might be post traumatic stress disorder. His marriage broke up in September. "My fault," he said. "I had Iraq issues." He dreamed night after night about Funcheon and the other guys in that Humvee blowing up in a ball of flame.

A week ago Saturday, Bland -- honorably discharged from the Army eight months ago -- opened a letter outside his mailbox in Raleigh, N.C., and read that he's being called back into the Army, to fight in Afghanistan.

His hands began to shake.
go here for the rest
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/770151.html

"I believe that I did have PTSD"

"I believe that I did have PTSD"
Matthew Marino was sent back to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty after the Army diagnosed him with "anxiety disorder" instead of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Editor's note: Read about "Sgt. X" and his secret tape of an Army psychologist (and listen to the recording) here; read about the Army's investigation of that tape -- and the Senate's failure to act -- here. Learn why the Army might have incentives not to diagnose PTSD here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna


April 10, 2009 Matthew Marino served five years in the Army and was deployed to fight in Afghanistan twice. He began to suffer from symptoms typical of post-traumatic stress disorder following his first tour. After returning to Fort Drum, N.Y. in late 2004, he couldn't lose the hyper-alertness he'd developed in Afghanistan. He had thoughts of suicide, was nervous, had nightmares, couldn't sleep, and stayed away from family and friends.

Despite his symptoms, however, the Army diagnosed the first lieutenant with anxiety disorder instead of PTSD. He was also diagnosed with depression and given antidepressants. The Army then "stop-lossed" Marino, to prevent him from leaving the Army although his time was up. He was shipped back to Afghanistan for a second tour in 2006. A diagnosis of PTSD might have kept him from being redeployed and sent back into combat; a diagnosis of anxiety disorder did not.

In two stories published this week, Salon has described how a soldier secretly taped an Army psychologist named Douglas McNinch saying that the Army was exerting pressure on him not to diagnose soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to McNinch, the Army preferred that he diagnose soldiers with anxiety disorder instead -- the same diagnosis Marino received. Marino's experience is a case study in what happens when Army medical care is influenced by the need to keep soldiers on the battlefield and the need to hold down the cost of long-term disability payments.


Marino returned to the States from his second tour in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2007 with symptoms nearly identical to those he'd experienced after his first tour. But the Army processed him out by Feb. 10, 2007 without a real medical examination. Marino recalls filling out a written questionnaire and then being discharged. "They didn't spend any time checking me when I went out the door."
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I believe that I did have PTSD

Bad Meds for wounded being sent back to Iraq with PTSD

Disabled soldier facing ‘stop-loss’ tour
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes,
European edition, Saturday, June 21, 2008


One day last August, while manning the .50-caliber gun atop his a Humvee on a dirt road in northern Iraq, Army Spc. Daniel "Joey" Haun suddenly lost consciousness. His vehicle had been struck by a buried bomb, an "improvised explosive device." Haun was ejected, his vehicle flipped over.

On impact with the ground, Haun’s left hand was driven up toward his forearm, crushing his wrist. The surgeon who rebuilt the wrist, using a metal plate and screws, told Haun last year that his infantry days were over.

The blast also blew out Haun’s right ear drum, which required surgery to partially restore his hearing. That surgeon warned him to avoid sustained exposure to any loud noises or risk having to wear a hearing aid.

As to head injuries, a neurologist diagnosed the 24-year-old with post-concussive syndrome and mild traumatic brain injury, the likely cause of his daily headaches since the attack. Finally, a psychologist urged Haun to get counseling for his post-traumatic stress symptoms or they could devolve into post-traumatic stress disorder, a more debilitating condition. So while recuperating in a wounded warrior unit at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Haun regularly saw a psychologist. He takes the drug Tramadol for his migraine headaches and Elavil, an antidepressant, to ease his stress.
go here for more
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55687


Pay attention to this one really well,,,,

Tramadol
Generic Name: tramadol (TRAM a dol)
Brand Names: Ultram, Ultram ER

What is tramadol?
Feedback for Tramadol
Tramadol is a narcotic-like pain reliever.

Tramadol is used to treat moderate to severe pain. Tramadol extended-release is used to treat moderate to severe chronic pain when treatment is needed around the clock.

Tramadol may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert

Important information about tramadol
You should not take tramadol if you have ever been addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Seizures (convulsions) have occurred in some people taking tramadol. You may be more likely to have a seizure while taking tramadol if you have a history of seizures or head injury, a metabolic disorder, or if you are taking certain medicines such as antidepressants, muscle relaxers, or medicine for nausea and vomiting.

Seizures have occurred in some people taking tramadol. Your risk of a seizure may be higher if you have any of these conditions:
a history of drug or alcohol addiction;
a history of epilepsy or other seizure disorder;
a history of head injury;a metabolic disorder; or
if you are also taking an antidepressant, muscle relaxer, or medicine for nausea and vomiting.

Before taking tramadol, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:
kidney disease;
liver disease;
a stomach disorder; or
a history of depression, mental illness, or suicide attempt.
http://www.drugs.com/tramadol.html
Elavil
Generic name: Amitriptyline hydrochloride

Why is Elavil prescribed?Return to top
Elavil is prescribed for the relief of symptoms of mental depression. It is a member of the group of drugs called tricyclic antidepressants. Some doctors also prescribe Elavil to treat bulimia (an eating disorder), to control chronic pain, to prevent migraine headaches, and to treat a pathological weeping and laughing syndrome associated with multiple sclerosis.
Special warnings about ElavilReturn to top
In clinical studies, antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents with depression and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of Elavil or any other antidepressant in a child or adolescent must balance this risk with the clinical need. Elavil is not approved for treating children less than 12 years old.

Additionally, the progression of major depression is associated with a worsening of symptoms and/or the emergence of suicidal thinking or behavior in both adults and children, whether or not they are taking antidepressants.
Individuals being treated with Elavil and their caregivers should watch for any change in symptoms or any new symptoms that appear suddenly—especially agitation, anxiety, hostility, panic, restlessness, extreme hyperactivity, and suicidal thinking or behavior—and report them to the doctor immediately. Be especially observant at the beginning of treatment or whenever there is a change in dose.

Do not stop taking Elavil abruptly, especially if you have been taking large doses for a long time. Your doctor probably will want to decrease your dosage gradually. This will help prevent a possible relapse and will reduce the possibility of withdrawal symptoms.

Elavil may make your skin more sensitive to sunlight. Try to stay out of the sun, wear protective clothing, and apply a sun block.

Elavil may cause you to become drowsy or less alert; therefore, you should not drive or operate dangerous machinery or participate in any hazardous activity that requires full mental alertness until you know how this drug affects you.
While taking this medication, you may feel dizzy or light-headed or actually faint when getting up from a lying or sitting position. If getting up slowly doesn't help or if this problem continues, notify your doctor.

Use Elavil with caution if you have ever had seizures, urinary retention, glaucoma or other chronic eye conditions, a heart or circulatory system disorder, or liver problems. Be cautious, too, if you are receiving thyroid medication. You should discuss all of your medical problems with your doctor before starting Elavil therapy.
Before having surgery, dental treatment, or any diagnostic procedure, tell the doctor that you are taking Elavil. Certain drugs used during surgery, such as anesthetics and muscle relaxants, and drugs used in certain diagnostic procedures may react badly with Elavil.
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drugs/rx/rx-mono.aspx?contentFileName=Ela1155.html&contentName=Elavil&contentId=201

Do you really think someone on these medications should be given a gun and sent back to Iraq, into the sunny Iraq in the Summer? I am not a doctor but since I had never heard of these two, I decided to look them up online. Maybe it would have been a good thing if the doctor did the same? Ya think!