DefenceTalkThe study of a series of patients at Madigan Army Medical Center here, has led doctors to discover a new unique sleep-related condition impacting combat Soldiers called Trauma-associated Sleep Disorder. “Redeployed military personnel have reported for the last 13 years complex nighttime behaviors ranging from sleepwalking, tossing and turning, thrashing, screaming, and even hitting their […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-sleep-disorder-discovered-impacting-combat-soldiers-60940/

DefenceTalkA Dutch-based student on Tuesday unveiled a prototype of an “ambulance drone”, a flying defibrillator able to reach heart attack victims within precious life-saving minutes. Developed by Belgian engineering graduate Alec Momont, it can fly at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour). “Around 800,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ambulance-drone-prototype-unveiled-in-holland-60916/

DefenceTalkAn audit on health care access for US veterans released Monday confirmed the existence of fake waiting lists, prompting a top official to slam “systemic” problems for America’s wounded warriors seeking treatment. The report is the latest revelation in a political scandal that last month led to the resignation of Eric Shinseki as Veterans Affairs […]https://www.defencetalk.com/audit-reveals-systemic-access-to-care-woes-for-us-veterans-59820/

DefenceTalkThe scandal over delays in medical care for US veterans has put the spotlight on a sprawling bureaucracy struggling to cope with an influx of patients with new ailments after a decade of war. The Veteran Affairs Department (VA) was already under scrutiny over its slow-moving health service, but allegations that a Phoenix hospital maintained […]https://www.defencetalk.com/after-wars-us-struggles-to-provide-care-for-vets-59681/

DefenceTalkSoldiers whose eyes are injured during combat have a better chance of returning to duty with their vision intact due to some revisions in the Army’s first-aid kit. The rigid eye shield was added as a component to the Army’s “Individual First-Aid Kit II,” which was distributed to the first Army units in the fall […]https://www.defencetalk.com/army-first-aid-kits-include-new-eye-shield-59342/

DefenceTalkResearchers from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine have teamed up with the Trainee Health Surveillance Flight 559th Medical Group’s Basic Military Training Team at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, to determine whether increased vitamin D and calcium intake can improve bone health in military personnel. Stress fractures and musculoskeletal injuries are among […]https://www.defencetalk.com/army-conducting-joint-study-to-improve-bone-health-in-military-personnel-50038/

DefenceTalkThe Army is now issuing to Soldiers the more robust, more streamlined “Individual First Aid Kit II” as replacement for the older kit which was built inside an ammunition pouch for a Squad Automatic Weapon. The IFAK II contains all the supplies of the old kit, with the addition of a second tourniquet, a tactical […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-first-aid-kit-includes-eye-protection-strap-cutter-49894/

DefenceTalkOctober is National Depression Awareness Month, with the theme “The courage to seek help.” The Army is calling on commanders and leaders to inform Soldiers, dependents and civilian personnel that depression is treatable, and help decrease the stigma associated with seeking treatment. “We are trying to raise awareness regarding depression and encourage Soldiers and other […]https://www.defencetalk.com/army-seeks-to-overcome-depression-stigma-49371/

DefenceTalkThe government shutdown did not stop the official opening Oct. 1 of the Defense Health Agency, a major streamlining effort of military medicine that has been in the works for three decades and signed into law earlier this year. “This day has been a long time in coming, and represents a major milestone in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-defense-health-agency-to-streamline-functions-49317/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development, will support two new multi-institutional consortia focused on translational and clinical research on post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic effects of mild traumatic brain injury. These collaborative five-year efforts […]https://www.defencetalk.com/consortia-focus-on-ptsd-mild-traumatic-brain-injury-48886/