perience for the patient in the emergency room after a car wreck, for example, because the physician will build a positive rapport with the patient and “can figure out which injuries are from the car wreck and which ones are from the IED [impro- vised explosive device] he was exposed to.” According to ISV course materials, the training will enable physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals to:
• Quickly identify and connect with patients who are veterans and their families, and with those currently serving in the military;
• Gain awareness of both the visible and invisible wounds some veterans bear;
• Thoroughly understand the impact of mild traumatic brain injury on the returning veterans;
• Understand the resources they can use to care for veterans and their families; and
• Assist veterans and their families by connecting them to veteran-specific resources in the community, region, state, or VA system.
Dr. Evenhouse says identifying a patient as a veteran allows physicians and other health professionals to tap into resources not available to other patients. “That designation as a veteran unlocks enormous potential for their care and for resources
— federal, state, and local,” he said. “If you’re not asking that question, you’re missing out on solutions for patients.”
Saving lives Dr. Costanzi sees great potential in this type of training for
physicians and other health professionals. “If you take a community and really give it a thorough go-
ing over, you’re going to find a lot of veterans who are down by the wayside, who do not have health care, and who don’t know where to turn,” he said. “The VA can only do so much. If community physicians could band together and be aware of the problems the veterans are coming back with, they could help a lot by taking the load off the federal agencies.” Mr. Stroud knows “100 percent” that if physicians and other community members got involved, “it would make the transi- tion a whole lot better for our military and their families. The Army Times reported in April 2010 that VA statistics
show there are 950 suicide attempts by veterans monthly and some 18 suicides a day. “If the community understands what these veterans are deal-
ing with, maybe we could reduce that number, maybe even to zero,” Mr. Stroud said. n
Ken Ortolon is senior editor of Texas Medicine. You can reach him by telephone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1392, or (512) 370-1392; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at
ken.ortolon@texmed.org.
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