Soldier's Family Questions Military PTSD Treatment

Schofield Soldier's Family Questions Military PTSD Treatment
Tripler Officials Defend Patient Policy
Brent Suyama, Managing Editor TheHawaiiChannel.com

POSTED: 8:39 pm HST July 11, 2008

TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Hawaii -- An Alabama woman says her son, a Schofield Barracks soldier, is slipping through the cracks after a stand-off with Honolulu police last month.

The Army responded on Friday by saying it requires soldiers to undergo Post Traumatic Stress Disorder screenings throughout the deployment cycle. After the mandatory screenings it falls on the soldier and the community to reach out to the Army for help.

Last month, Sgt. Jesse Kerry barricaded himself in his Royal Kunia townhouse. After an 18-hour standoff with Honolulu police, the 23-year-old surrendered.
go here for more
http://www.kitv.com/news/16860884/detail.html

Why is the VA smarter than the DOD? We have a friend, Vietnam vet with full blown PTSD, who also hit bottom not too long ago. After over a month in the VA, they discharged him but they did not send him home. They sent him to a rehab house where he could still receive the help he desperately needed. So why is the VA smarter than the DOD? Doesn't the DOD have a clue what they are doing when it comes to taking care of the troops?

Soldier in 18-hour standoff to leave hospital

Soldier in 18-hour standoff to leave hospital

Mother says sergeant is suffering from PTSD, needs more treatment
By Rob Perez - Honolulu Advertiser
Posted : Thursday Jul 10, 2008 8:36:36 EDT

A Schofield Barracks soldier who was hospitalized last week after threatening suicide during an 18-hour standoff with police is scheduled to be released as soon as Thursday despite concerns from his family that he is not ready.

Stephanie Kerry, the mother of Sgt. Jesse Kerry, said her son still is having trouble dealing with the traumatic effects from deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq and questioned whether the military has provided adequate treatment for him and many other soldiers in similar situations.

“I think Jesse and other soldiers like him are battling things that require more time,” she said. “This is extremely serious, and people need to realize that.”

A spokeswoman for Tripler Army Medical Center, where Kerry was taken for psychiatric evaluation after the June 30 standoff in Waipahu, said federal law prohibited her from commenting on individual cases. But the hospital issued a general statement: “Every patient is assessed individually. Based upon clinical evaluation, a personalized treatment plan is given, which works toward a discharge date.”

In a phone interview from her Valley, Ala., home yesterday, Stephanie Kerry said she was told by her son’s physician Monday that the soldier probably would be released tomorrow.

She said that when she expressed concern that her son wasn’t ready to be released, the doctor told her the military can’t hold someone for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation for more than 72 hours.

Stephanie Kerry said her son told her previously that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that the effects are so serious that she believes he needs more treatment. She wasn’t sure whether he would be able to stay at Tripler beyond tomorrow, even if he asked to do so.
click post title for more

Former PTSD Team Director Says More Needs To Be Done

Family Concerned For Soldier After HPD Standoff
Former PTSD Team Director Says More Needs To Be Done

POSTED: 2:29 pm HST July 9, 2008

HONOLULU -- A Schofield Barracks soldier who barricaded himself during an 18-hour standoff with police could be released from the hospital Thursday, but his family worries he is not ready.

Sgt. Jesse Kerry, an Iraq war veteran, went to Tripler Army Medical Center after threatening suicide and holding police at bay last week at the Villas at Royal Kunia, authorities said.

His sister-in-law Brooke Kerry said she is worried about post-traumatic stress disorder. She said doctors told the sergeant he can be released
go here for more
http://www.kitv.com/news/16837641/detail.html