The Better Brain Injury Care Coalition
More soldiers are returning from war with post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury and The Better Brain Injury Care Coalition of West Virginia said they're not receiving the care they need at home. While armor may save the soldier’s life, the explosions they are experiencing often cause traumatic brain injuries. The Pentagon lists nearly 4,500 brain injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan and some soldier screenings have found up to 60 percent have come home with a TBI. The Better Brain Injury Care Coalition is made up of the West Virginia National Guard, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Brain Injury Association of West Virginia and the West Virginia Traumatic Brain/Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Fund Board. Armed with news out of the Pentagon the agencies together want to bring the necessary care home to VA clinics across West Virginia so they do not have to go to Walter Reed. “Without having services in West Virginia, they have to go to Walter Reed and they just want to come home,” said Ginger Dearth, a representative from the West Virginia Traumatic Brain/Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Fund Board. This group wants state lawmakers to make treatment made possible in West Virginia.
