16/365 Save a veteran's life

Veteran deaths due to suicide have surpassed combat deaths in OIF.

An estimated 18 of the 25 million US veterans commits suicide every day.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/21/cbsnews_investigates/main4032921.shtml

This is over 5000 suicides each year.

Ask the hard questions.

Look out for your wingman. Look out for your family.

Call if you or someone you love needs help.

National Suicide Prevention hotline: (800)-273-TALK (8255).

Connect with people who understand what you are going through at Not Alone:

http://www.notalone.com/

See videos based on troops lost to suicide, learn the signs at Wingman Project

http://www.thewingmanproject.org/Default.aspx

They've been heroes for us, be a hero for them.

Memorial Medical Center after Katrina, Revisited

(The Helipad of Memorial Medical Center, the last point of departure for critically ill patients during evacuation. Source: NYT)

I'm writing a presentation on Disaster Planning. Since I've last addressed this topic, Dr. Sheri Fink has written an incredible account of the difficult choices faced by the doctors and nurses of Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina stranded the staff and patients without power, supplies, or easy exit.

The article is 18 pages long, but with numerous first-person accounts, it is the most revealing study on the topic I have read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30doctors.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Dr. Fink has also written "War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival"

http://www.warhospital.net/

#15 Valour-IT Hi Tech for injured troops

(graphic from www.coxandforkum.com / soldiers' angels )

Now I've already mentioned Soldiers' Angels in #1, but get on over there to check out their program: VALOUR-IT

http://www.soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it

Soldiers'Angels is running an auction and fundraiser to help donate information technology aids to injured troops:

- voice controlled laptops for troops who have lost use of hands

- personalized gps to help troops with traumatic brain injury and memory loss make it to the places they go every day

- here's a cool one: Wii platform games for whole body video-game modelled rehab and PT

a note on the last one: it works! at the hospital in Balad, we had a Wii game set up on the ward, and we would use it for both troops and Iraqi patients as they recovered use of their bodies after injuries. It was great to have it out in the open where all the patients could see who was working out: their curiosity always got the better of them and we were able to convince the more hesitant patients to get their butts out of bed and start to claw their way back to health.

Our Iraq translators got pretty good at the games and it was darn near impossible to beat them at Wii bowling.

Last but not least, here is a blog you have to check out:

http://kasee60.blogspot.com/

Kathi is a true dedicated patriot and lifelong supporter of our troops. I was fascinated as I read about all of the communities she is involved in to help show the troops that we back at home remember them.

Take care!

Chris