Wishing Servicemen of Every Age and Stripe a Happy Veteran’s Day!
Veteran’s Day is a time to thank our men and women in uniform; it’s also an important day for the allied healthcare professionals treating our wounded servicemen to reflect on changes in physical therapy and how it impacts patients. The wide range in veteran’s ages receiving care—approximately age 20 to 105—is a big factor in treatment and therapy solutions. Physical therapists must be prepared to create individualized therapy plans for wounds that are changing with the times, taking into consideration wounds incurred in wars that span both generations and continents.
For example, younger veterans, injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, present with orthopedic injuries outside of the usual short-term conditions physical therapists are used to seeing in servicemen; i.e., blast injuries from things exploding around them, and trauma caused by carrying heavy packs across uneven desert terrains. As the war in the Middle East goes on, injured troops and veterans in need of rehab therapy continue to rise. PTs are treating more patients with multiple limb amputations; while this is standard for therapists who work with veterans of war, the average age of amputees is dropping. PTs are treating much younger Vets now.
The good news is, that therapists in places like Walter Reed (Washington D.C. therapists are familiar with this VA hospital) are known for their excellent care of both young and old amputees; they built an amputee ward based on a sports medicine model that is changing lives for the better. From the east coast to the west coast, therapists are assisting Veterans with everything from orthopedic injuries to traumatic brain injuries, treating both short-term and long-term problems with cutting edge expertise.
Allied Healthcare Objectives that Win the War on Injuries
California therapists at the VA hospital in Los Angeles are well known for their care of older amputees as a result of diabetes, vascular degeneration or old injuries from serving in Vietnam—but in using these objectives in therapy, they help much younger servicemen, too.
- Maximize patients’ independence in performing daily tasks again via excellent occupational therapy
- Improve ambulation through mobility training
- Increase physical strength, endurance and coordination
- Let patients define and set goals; then learn to trust the therapist in helping them achieve these goals
Therapists Across America Salute Their Patients!
Allied health professionals in VA hospitals, and rehab centers across America take pride in providing comprehensive therapy; PTs, OTs and all healthcare professionals in therapy jobs are working with state of the art therapy techniques and prosthetic limbs—so that wounded war veterans of any age will benefit. These therapists are heartened by the fact that advances in body armor and helmet design are improving emergency medical care. It is now possible for servicemen to survive injuries from landmines, combat and IEDs; it’s also possible for severely injured vets, who once were thought to be wheelchair bound the rest of their lives, to walk out of rehab centers on their own two feet. Congrats to these Vets and their rehab team. May physical therapists show their thanks and patriotism to men and women in the military every day! God bless America, everyone!
