Firefighters getting PTSD peer-support and stigma out of the way

Survey: Firefighters Struggling With Mental Health and PTSD
NECN
By Karen Hensel
Feb 28, 2018

“You guys all signed up for PTS, that’s what you did when you became a firefighter," Lavoie cautions. "You’re not going to get out of this without some level of PTS.”

They don’t want it to get to “the disorder part of it,” meaning PTSD. It’s why the Worcester Fire Department agreed to share their message with NBC 10 Boston Investigators

Firefighters across the country and in Massachusetts are struggling with mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study where NBC-owned stations partnered with the International Association of Firefighters to anonymously survey firefighters.

The groundbreaking survey gives insight into the everyday challenges facing firefighters.

Long-time Worcester, Massachusetts firefighters talked openly with the NBC10 Boston Investigators about the 1999 Cold Storage Warehouse fire, a subject which few have spoken about publicly. That is part of the issue and now, 18 years later, they face it head-on.

The Parkland, Florida school shooting had the nation gripped with emotions of grief and anger. The focus was initially on the families of the 17 killed and the mental health of the shooter. Unseen was the emotional toll on first responders.
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Did you deliver early after deployment? You're not alone.

For pregnant soldiers, recent deployment linked to higher risk of premature delivery
Stanford Medicine
Erin Digitale
March 1, 2018

Giving birth soon after military deployment is linked to greater risk of premature delivery, a Stanford study of U.S. servicewomen found, but deployment history itself does not raise prematurity risk.

Female soldiers who give birth within six months of returning from military deployment face twice the risk of having a preterm baby as other active-duty servicewomen, a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found.

The study, which examined 12,877 births to American soldiers from 2011-14, published online March 1 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. In total, 6.1 percent of births studied were premature, meaning the baby was born three or more weeks early. But among women who had recently returned from deployment, 11.7 percent of deliveries were premature. Women giving birth soon after deployment were, on average, younger than other military mothers, and with lower education and lower pay, the study found.
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Gulf War Officially Ended, But Veterans Still Fight

If you're wondering why Iraq lasted as long, claimed as many lives, this day is a good reminder of what had been forgotten about by Congress.

New York Times

History:Persian Gulf War

With Iraqi resistance nearing collapse, Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, ending the Persian Gulf War. According to the peace terms that Hussein subsequently accepted, Iraq would recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty and get rid of all its weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons). In all, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Iraqi forces were killed, in comparison with only 300 coalition troops.

General Colin Powell

Would you describe the decision to stop the fighting?

The last day was a fascinating one. In briefing the president, I said Norm and I thought that in another couple of days we would be asking him to end the war. The Highway of Death was all over television at that point.The president said, “Well, if we've accomplished the mission, and I think we have, then what's the point of killing more people. Why not end it in the next 12 to 18 hours?”I agreed. Mr. Cheney agreed. Norm agreed. All the president's advisors agreed. And that's what we did. We gave Norm like 12 hours to stake out a line, figure out where everybody was to give up, and halt the war at that point. It was the subject of great controversy afterward.For more than 10 years, I had people asking me, “Why didn't you go to Baghdad?” I explained why, as did the president and Mr. Cheney. Then, in 2003, we went to Baghdad, and nobody asked me again.

General Norman Schwarzkopf

Despite extensive second-guessing about the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, former Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf said the United States and its allies never seriously considered pressing the military offensive on to Baghdad.

In a radio interview and in his forthcoming autobiography, "It Doesn't Take a Hero," Schwarzkopf, the field commander during the conflict, said that taking Baghdad would have splintered the 28-nation Gulf War coalition, cost American lives and dragged the United States into a quagmire "like the dinosaur in the tar pit."

The result:Department of Veterans Affairs

Gulf War

Veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable who served in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, which includes the areas specified by regulation, but not Afghanistan, may be entitled to disability compensation for certain undiagnosed illnesses, certain diagnosable chronic disability patterns, and certain presumptive diseases ( as described below) even though these disorders did not become manifest during qualifying service. Veterans who served in Afghanistan on or after September 19, 2001, may be entitled to disability compensation for certain presumptive diseases.

Eligibility Requirements

• Qualifying undiagnosed illnesses or diagnosable chronic disability patterns, that appeared either during a qualifying period of active service or prior to December 31, 2021, must meet the following conditions:
  • There must be no other cause for your disability or illness than service in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations.
  • your disability existed for 6 months or more, AND
  • If your disability or illness did not appear during active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, then it must have appeared prior to December 31, 2021, to a degree that is at least 10-percent disabling (for VA rating purposes).

The disability must be one or more of the following:

• Undiagnosed illnesses. These are illnesses that may include but are not limited to: abnormal weight loss, fatigue, cardiovascular disease, muscle and joint pain, headache, menstrual disorders, neurological and psychological problems, skin conditions, respiratory disorders, and sleep disturbances.
• Diagnosable functional gastrointestinal disorders. Functional gastrointestinal disorders are a group of conditions characterized by chronic or recurrent symptoms that are unexplained. These disorders may include but are not limited to irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspesia, functional vomiting, functional constipation, functional bloating, functional abdominal pain syndrome, and functional dysphagia.
• Diagnosable Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Diagnosable Fibromyalgia

Certain presumptive diseases, which will be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by service even if there is no evidence of such disease during active service. With three exceptions (see asterisks), one of the following must have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year of the date of separation from a qualifying period of active service:

• Burcellosis
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
• Malaria* (if not 10 percent or more within one year of separation, may be 10 percent or more at a time when standard or accepted treatises indicate that the incubation period commenced during qualifying period of service)
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis* (no time limit)
• Nontyphoid Salmonella
• Shigella
• Visceral leishmaniasis* (no time limit)
• West Nile Virus

 Congress did not learn from history, and the troops were destined to repeat it. 

UK: Homeless PTSD veteran searching for veteran angels who took care of him

Homeless Army veteran tries to track down Good Samaritans 'John' and 'Patrick' who paid for him to stay in a hotel and gave him 'military-grade' clothing after seeing him in a doorway
Daily Mail
Rory Tingle
February 28, 2018

Ed was approached by the two men when he was on the streets in Bridgend
The pair took him for a meal in Wetherspoons and then paid for a hotel room
When he returned to his spot next day he found a bag of cold-weather gear
Do you know the good Samaritans? Contact rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk

A homeless Army veteran with PTSD is trying to track down two Good Samaritans who paid for him to stay in a hotel and gave him 'military-grade' warm clothing after seeing him in a doorway.

Ex-serviceman Ed - who was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone - thought he was being moved on by security when he was approached in Bridgend, south Wales, last week.

Instead the two men, who are also thought to be ex forces, took the 48-year-old for a meal at Wetherspoons and then to a hotel where he stayed for two nights.
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Medic posted soldier's body part on Snapchat?

This is the excuse?

"The soldier’s motive for posting the image stemmed from his pride in taking part in the procedure rather than in seeking to embarrass or violate the patient’s rights, the source said."

But evidently not enough respect for the soldier!

Medic disciplined after posting photo of soldier’s severed body part on Snapchat
STARS AND STRIPES
By JOHN VANDIVER
Published: February 28, 2018

STUTTGART, Germany — Military medical officials are imposing new social media guidelines after an Army medic at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany posted an operating room photo of a patient’s severed body part.

The incident, which occurred in mid-September but was just confirmed Wednesday, provoked unspecified disciplinary action against the medic and a commandwide warning from the Army’s top doctor.

“This type of behavior is unprofessional and violates the trust of those we serve, and the tenets of our profession,” said Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Nadja West in an email to medical staff.

The image of “unrecognizable body tissue that had been removed" from a soldier was posted to the social media site Snapchat Story, where images automatically expire after 24 hours. However, personnel learned of the incident and ordered that the picture also be deleted from the staffer’s phone, LRMC officials said.
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