Traumatic Brain Injury clinic promotes awareness

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class ?Jack Sanders
  • JBER PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  March is Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness month and staff at of the 673d Medical Group's TBI clinic continuously demonstrate the importance of awareness.

Becoming self-aware of a brain injury can be difficult because the patient's brain isn't at its best, according to Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Kelton Oliver, 673d Medical Group public health flight.

Victims may not know they're hurt.

The base hospital has several unique analysis and treatment options for service members.

It is also the only hospital in the Air Force to have a TBI clinic.

"The brain is kind of unique in that, where you sustain your injury will impact certain areas of your function," said Air Force Major (Dr.) Keisha Henry, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury clinic director.

Henry said JBER has a great TBI awareness program because every section of the hospital works together with the clinic to make sure patients who may be suffering know their symptoms.

By working through those sections at the hospital, the clinic can see patients who are receiving treatment for other physical problems that are linked to it.

Some specialties work closely with the TBI clinic including speech-pathology, neurology, occupational therapy, mental health, optometry and audiology.

"We do a lot of education training with the Army and Air Force providers and all of our primary care clinics, so that they're aware of the signs and symptoms," Henry said.

"(Symptoms include) dizziness, nausea, headaches, inner ear disturbances, irritability, confusion and the inability to focus on things that you normally were able to focus on before."

Keeping current information up-to-date is important for the TBI clinic.

"Alaska has one of the highest rates of traumatic brain injury outside of the military even," Henry said.

Most current knowledge about TBI has come through research based on sports, Henry said.

"Sports is probably one of the most prevalent things we see a lot (regardless of) whether you're active-duty or not," she said.

Occasionally, the clinic will get patients who've been injured in ways other than most TBI patients, Oliver said.

"It is now becoming apparent that if you have a whole lot of smaller (injuries) they kind of add up," Oliver said. "For example, we may be seeing some artilleryman who'll say, 'I never got knocked out, but there was that one day that we fired so many rounds that by the end of the day I was bleeding from my ears.' It does become apparent then that a lot of the guys, even though they might not have been totally knocked out, they clearly have been in some kind of injury that was cumulative."

"If you're not functioning the way you feel you should one of the things that we'll often see are difficulties communicating, finding words that use to not be difficult or not comprehending on the level that you used to (it could be a sign of TBI)," Henry said.

TBI is difficult to self-diagnose, so Oliver said he suggests the best course of action is to look out for each other.

"Have a little higher suspicion for your buddies," Oliver said. "If you're in a situation where, 'Ok, we just had a blast.' Stop and look around at your buddies and go, 'Did you get your bell rung? Are you ok?'"