New Military Center To Take Technology to Next Level

The 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. 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. 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. Robert Gailey, PhD, PT, aids amputee in gait training. Courtesy of Ossur North America. 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."

New Military Center To Take Technology to Next Level

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