thedrifter
11-04-06, 06:27 AM
Command Mistake: An I-Team 8 Special Report
Nov 3, 2006 07:04 PM
By Karen Hensel
News 8 @ 11:00
An I-Team 8 exclusive investigation is so big even the Pentagon doesn't want to respond. Who do you think would be most protected- a football player or a soldier? The answer is why the Defense Department admits to making a mistake.
Part 1: Thousands of American Soldiers Suffer from Brain Injuries Due to Unprotective Helmets
"As you know, you go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on December 8, 2004.
Since those remarks in 2004, 85 Indiana troops have died. Hundreds of others have been seriously injured. 24-Hour News 8 watched troops in Iraq go to war wondering if the helmets they had would do the job.
"I know some of you are using the new cushions in your helmets. No? None of you have them?" asked Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer.
That is a surprising revelation because in this war more American troops die from blasts than bullets. The IED's, improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs, also leave behind soldiers who may survive, but live with traumatic brain injuries.
"Used to be when I would stand up and close my eyes I would pass out," said Army Specialist Greg Brooks of Greenwood.
Specialist Brooks was an IED hunter. In the armored "buffalo" he survived 39 blasts; number 40 was much bigger.
"With IED's you have a concussion blast that comes through and shakes your whole body, rattles everything around," Specialist Brooks said.
In the last year, he has had to relearn to walk and talk. Just standing is sometimes difficult.
An IED explosion sends massive G forces barreling toward an unsuspecting soldier. Specialist Matt Renner spoke from Germany just days after surviving a roadside bomb.
"I was pretty scared because I didn't know what all was wrong. What I didn't feel, some of the wounds you get, you can't feel them," Specialist Renner said.
I-Team 8's investigation finds the standard issue helmet does not protect enough. Experts say when the blast of a roadside bomb hits the Kevlar vest soldiers wear, the blast has nowhere to go but up into the face and the helmet comes down onto the head causing brain injuries.
According to a retired Navy physician, "The helmet rocks on the head, making violent contact with the skull in an area the size of a ball-peen hammer. The impact can cause skull fractures, intracranial bleeding and concussions." The concussions can be disabling, even fatal.
We've asked how many Americans have been injured by IED's, how many have brain injuries and how many have been killed. The Department of Defense refuses to release those numbers. Landstuhl Medical Center is the first stop outside the war zone for soldiers airlifted from the battlefield. There, doctors were more forthcoming about injuries than Rumsfeld or other generals.
"A lot of research has been done on the football helmet and not so much on the helmet for the troops. So, you have two 18-year-old boys and one goes off to a football field to play for the high school and the other one goes off into a humvee. Who is more protected?" Karen asked Dr. Pedro Caran, a neurosurgeon at Landstuhl Medical Center.
"Depends on the scenario. Right now, the football helmet is a little more protective," he answered.
But should it be and why? During World War II the U.S. Government went to Riddell, now the country's lead football helmet manufacturer. They made improvements putting in webbed suspension. In the three years we've been at war in Iraq, Riddell, with over 50 years of helmet research, has made improvements: a new helmet, new padding so players like Peyton Manning are even safer from head injuries. The helmet makes them 33 percent less likely to suffer a concussion. That's up to 46,000 fewer concussions among the country's 1.5 million high school football players.
In those same three years, what has the Pentagon done? Concluded a study and allowed pads. Research in 2005 found padding would lower the blast injuries. The Army immediately put padding in over 800,000 helmets. But the Marines disagreed. They issued an official statement "Sling suspension performs equally with the padded system."
"We believe in the sling system," said Marine General Cato at a Congressional hearing.
Where does that leave those who go to war and why, when roadside bomb injuries started to occur, didn't the military do more?
Part 2: Just $30 Could Make Hoosier Troops' Helmets Safer
The sun rises on another 120 degree day for America's military, another day to wear 120 pounds of gear.
In Iraq, insurgents lay the traps for roadside bombs. Some are destroyed, but others have killed or hurt thousands of Americans. The Pentagon refuses to say how many brain injuries have been caused. The key question is how to stop the G-forces of the bomb blasts from causing those brain injuries.
When he was in Gulf War 1, Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer put bubble wrap inside his helmet. Now as Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, who will help care for the wounded, he has gone to the war to see what military brass have done to improve troop safety.
After seeing safety research the army finally put pads, two produced by Indiana companies, in their helmets. The Marines refused.
"With the IEDs we deal with all the brain injuries and it's almost like, so what if you save an arm or save a leg, if we lose the brain what do we have?" asked Congressman Buyer to Marines in Fallujah.
Saving the lives of American troops could begin at two businesses in Indiana that make portions of the pads used in helmets. So why is it taking the military so long to implement the pads in Iraq where it is needed right now?
"Some Marines were buying them on their own?" Congressman Buyer asked. A Marine answered, "Yes sir, that's right."
I-Team 8 observed a classified briefing in Fallujah. One main focus was helmet pads, presented by the chief surgeon.
I-Team asked, "As a doctor who sees the injuries coming in, does your gut feeling tell you yes or no we need pads?"
"I can find absolutely nothing that says we need pads. My helmet is not padded," responded chief surgeon Dr. Daniel Zinder.
Despite that pronouncement, I-Team 8 learned the need for military helmet pads is documented as early as 2003. Two neuro-psychologists at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed went on record nearly three years ago.
"The Kevlar is great against penetration injuries (from bullet for shrapnel), but doesn't provide much protection from concussion injuries because it is not well-padded," said Dr. Laurie Ryan in 2003.
"It's not designed to absorb impact," said Dr. Louis French in 2003.
Impact causes the brain to be sloshed inside the skull causing the traumatic brain injuries. Even after three years and thousands of injuries there is little research on blast impact on military helmets.
"Everything we know is from sports injuries for the most part," said Dr. Zinder.
I-Team 8 went to the IU football program, the only school in the Big Ten tracking football concussions. Every hit for every player is watched. If it exceeds the threshold, the athletic trainer is notified by beeper.
The researchers are now working with the Air Force. One engineer with the HTS system concedes that a football helmet now has more technology in it than a soldiers helmet.
After the on-site inspection in Iraq where Congressman Buyer challenged the Marines, they relented. Use of pads is now mandatory. Brigadier General John Kelly, two years ago a Marine Commander on the ground in Iraq, says the Marines made a mistake.
"It was an error. The sling system was not a very good system," said Brigadier General Kelly.
"When this independent testing was done, we shared those results immediately with the army and the test results are so startling they have taken, I believe, the same action we did in pursuing this other pad system."
I-Team 8 has learned new Marine testing proves the pads they resisted improve safety. With new questions from the Congressional hearing, the Marines immediately sent pads to Marines at war while they waited for independent testing.
New results, details not even released yet, show pads do make a difference and the Marines have done an about face.
Meanwhile, Congressman Buyer has requested testing continue to make a better helmet. The cost to care for a head-injured soldier with permanent brain damage is $2.5 to $3.5 million. The cost of helmet pads is as little as $30.
One of the Indiana pad manufacturers, Genesis, just received an order for 120,000 pads to be sent to the Air Force.
Ellie
Nov 3, 2006 07:04 PM
By Karen Hensel
News 8 @ 11:00
An I-Team 8 exclusive investigation is so big even the Pentagon doesn't want to respond. Who do you think would be most protected- a football player or a soldier? The answer is why the Defense Department admits to making a mistake.
Part 1: Thousands of American Soldiers Suffer from Brain Injuries Due to Unprotective Helmets
"As you know, you go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on December 8, 2004.
Since those remarks in 2004, 85 Indiana troops have died. Hundreds of others have been seriously injured. 24-Hour News 8 watched troops in Iraq go to war wondering if the helmets they had would do the job.
"I know some of you are using the new cushions in your helmets. No? None of you have them?" asked Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer.
That is a surprising revelation because in this war more American troops die from blasts than bullets. The IED's, improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs, also leave behind soldiers who may survive, but live with traumatic brain injuries.
"Used to be when I would stand up and close my eyes I would pass out," said Army Specialist Greg Brooks of Greenwood.
Specialist Brooks was an IED hunter. In the armored "buffalo" he survived 39 blasts; number 40 was much bigger.
"With IED's you have a concussion blast that comes through and shakes your whole body, rattles everything around," Specialist Brooks said.
In the last year, he has had to relearn to walk and talk. Just standing is sometimes difficult.
An IED explosion sends massive G forces barreling toward an unsuspecting soldier. Specialist Matt Renner spoke from Germany just days after surviving a roadside bomb.
"I was pretty scared because I didn't know what all was wrong. What I didn't feel, some of the wounds you get, you can't feel them," Specialist Renner said.
I-Team 8's investigation finds the standard issue helmet does not protect enough. Experts say when the blast of a roadside bomb hits the Kevlar vest soldiers wear, the blast has nowhere to go but up into the face and the helmet comes down onto the head causing brain injuries.
According to a retired Navy physician, "The helmet rocks on the head, making violent contact with the skull in an area the size of a ball-peen hammer. The impact can cause skull fractures, intracranial bleeding and concussions." The concussions can be disabling, even fatal.
We've asked how many Americans have been injured by IED's, how many have brain injuries and how many have been killed. The Department of Defense refuses to release those numbers. Landstuhl Medical Center is the first stop outside the war zone for soldiers airlifted from the battlefield. There, doctors were more forthcoming about injuries than Rumsfeld or other generals.
"A lot of research has been done on the football helmet and not so much on the helmet for the troops. So, you have two 18-year-old boys and one goes off to a football field to play for the high school and the other one goes off into a humvee. Who is more protected?" Karen asked Dr. Pedro Caran, a neurosurgeon at Landstuhl Medical Center.
"Depends on the scenario. Right now, the football helmet is a little more protective," he answered.
But should it be and why? During World War II the U.S. Government went to Riddell, now the country's lead football helmet manufacturer. They made improvements putting in webbed suspension. In the three years we've been at war in Iraq, Riddell, with over 50 years of helmet research, has made improvements: a new helmet, new padding so players like Peyton Manning are even safer from head injuries. The helmet makes them 33 percent less likely to suffer a concussion. That's up to 46,000 fewer concussions among the country's 1.5 million high school football players.
In those same three years, what has the Pentagon done? Concluded a study and allowed pads. Research in 2005 found padding would lower the blast injuries. The Army immediately put padding in over 800,000 helmets. But the Marines disagreed. They issued an official statement "Sling suspension performs equally with the padded system."
"We believe in the sling system," said Marine General Cato at a Congressional hearing.
Where does that leave those who go to war and why, when roadside bomb injuries started to occur, didn't the military do more?
Part 2: Just $30 Could Make Hoosier Troops' Helmets Safer
The sun rises on another 120 degree day for America's military, another day to wear 120 pounds of gear.
In Iraq, insurgents lay the traps for roadside bombs. Some are destroyed, but others have killed or hurt thousands of Americans. The Pentagon refuses to say how many brain injuries have been caused. The key question is how to stop the G-forces of the bomb blasts from causing those brain injuries.
When he was in Gulf War 1, Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer put bubble wrap inside his helmet. Now as Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, who will help care for the wounded, he has gone to the war to see what military brass have done to improve troop safety.
After seeing safety research the army finally put pads, two produced by Indiana companies, in their helmets. The Marines refused.
"With the IEDs we deal with all the brain injuries and it's almost like, so what if you save an arm or save a leg, if we lose the brain what do we have?" asked Congressman Buyer to Marines in Fallujah.
Saving the lives of American troops could begin at two businesses in Indiana that make portions of the pads used in helmets. So why is it taking the military so long to implement the pads in Iraq where it is needed right now?
"Some Marines were buying them on their own?" Congressman Buyer asked. A Marine answered, "Yes sir, that's right."
I-Team 8 observed a classified briefing in Fallujah. One main focus was helmet pads, presented by the chief surgeon.
I-Team asked, "As a doctor who sees the injuries coming in, does your gut feeling tell you yes or no we need pads?"
"I can find absolutely nothing that says we need pads. My helmet is not padded," responded chief surgeon Dr. Daniel Zinder.
Despite that pronouncement, I-Team 8 learned the need for military helmet pads is documented as early as 2003. Two neuro-psychologists at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed went on record nearly three years ago.
"The Kevlar is great against penetration injuries (from bullet for shrapnel), but doesn't provide much protection from concussion injuries because it is not well-padded," said Dr. Laurie Ryan in 2003.
"It's not designed to absorb impact," said Dr. Louis French in 2003.
Impact causes the brain to be sloshed inside the skull causing the traumatic brain injuries. Even after three years and thousands of injuries there is little research on blast impact on military helmets.
"Everything we know is from sports injuries for the most part," said Dr. Zinder.
I-Team 8 went to the IU football program, the only school in the Big Ten tracking football concussions. Every hit for every player is watched. If it exceeds the threshold, the athletic trainer is notified by beeper.
The researchers are now working with the Air Force. One engineer with the HTS system concedes that a football helmet now has more technology in it than a soldiers helmet.
After the on-site inspection in Iraq where Congressman Buyer challenged the Marines, they relented. Use of pads is now mandatory. Brigadier General John Kelly, two years ago a Marine Commander on the ground in Iraq, says the Marines made a mistake.
"It was an error. The sling system was not a very good system," said Brigadier General Kelly.
"When this independent testing was done, we shared those results immediately with the army and the test results are so startling they have taken, I believe, the same action we did in pursuing this other pad system."
I-Team 8 has learned new Marine testing proves the pads they resisted improve safety. With new questions from the Congressional hearing, the Marines immediately sent pads to Marines at war while they waited for independent testing.
New results, details not even released yet, show pads do make a difference and the Marines have done an about face.
Meanwhile, Congressman Buyer has requested testing continue to make a better helmet. The cost to care for a head-injured soldier with permanent brain damage is $2.5 to $3.5 million. The cost of helmet pads is as little as $30.
One of the Indiana pad manufacturers, Genesis, just received an order for 120,000 pads to be sent to the Air Force.
Ellie