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New Military Center To Take Technology to Next LevelThe casualties keep coming as the conflicts in Iraq
and Afghanistan continue taking their toll. By mid-November, the
tally had risen to at least 10,369 wounded American troops,
according to Chris Matthews of MSNBC, December 22, 2004. As of that
time, American military hospitals collectively have cared for about
200 amputees, three of them triple amputees. The Walter Reed Army
Medical Center has treated over 150 of those
amputees.
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Courtesy of the SmithGroup, United States Army Health Facility Planning Agency (USAHFPA), Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Baltimore Corps of Engineers, and the United States Army Amputee Program. |
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Amputations have accounted for 2.4 percent of all
wounded in action in Iraq - twice the rate in World Wars I and II,
Walter Reed Amputee Program Manager Chuck Scoville told a
congressional committee this past summer. Why is the rate so much
higher? Ironically, technological advances in military protective
gear are part of the reason - soldiers who would have died before
now frequently survive, although often with major injuries. The
Kevlar vests protecting torsos have stopped rounds from a
Kalashnikov rifle, a 9-millimeter handgun, and grenade fragments,
according to the Los Angeles Times in 2003.
In 2002, Congress allocated $13 million to Walter Reed to
establish an Amputee Center of Excellence using the latest in
prosthetic technology. But something even better is now in the
works: On November 19, 2004, ground was broken for the Military
Amputee Training Center, a new $10 million, 29,000-square-foot
facility scheduled to open in December 2005. Attending the
groundbreaking ceremony, along with high-ranking military and
Department of Defense officials and recovering servicemen, was
Paddy Rossbach, president and CEO of the Amputee Coalition of
America (ACA). "Participating in this ceremony along with so many
of the wounded servicemen was a very moving experience," Rossbach
said, as quoted by the ACA. "It was immediately obvious that there
is a tremendous need for such a facility. Results of the work done
there will have a tremendous impact on the care and treatment of
amputees in the future, whether military or civilian."
Besides state-of-the-art technology, the new center will bring
together skilled clinical teams including physicians, prosthetists,
physical and occupational therapists, social workers, and Veterans
Affairs counselors.
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Robert Gailey, PhD, PT, aids amputee in gait training. Courtesy of Ossur North America. |
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Designed to return amputees to the battle-field or
to high-activity levels in civilian life, the center will provide
more than advanced prosthetic technology. The center will include a
running track, obstacle courses, military vehicle simulators, and a
one-of-a-kind hydraulic platform to simulate different terrains
from mud to sand to gravel. Computer labs will help amputees learn
how to control advanced prostheses and a gait lab will help
amputees to walk and run again.
"Our guys and gals don't want to just walk household distances;
they want to be able to return to running; they want to able to
return to duty," said Lt. Col. Jeff Gambel, clinical chief of the
amputee clinic at the groundbreaking ceremony, quoted by Rednova
News, November 2004. "And if they don't return to duty, they want
to be able to rock climb and do all those other things." 
Table Of Contents - February 2005
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