thedrifter
10-14-06, 09:19 AM
Marines Send Helmet Pads to Those Serving in Iraq and Afghanistan
Oct 13, 2006 09:32 PM
by Karen Hensel
24 Hour News 8
I-Team 8 has learned the Marines are doing an about face on a safety issue for thousands of Marines at war.
There has been debate for months after the Army issued pads to go into the helmets of Army soldiers, and the Marines didn't.
The issue is concussions and traumatic brain injury to thousands of troops hit by roadside bombs. At the urging of a congressional hearing, the Marine Corps just finished testing which shows padded helmets do give more protection against the blast impact.
We saw many of those injured by roadside bombs when 24 Hour News 8 visited troops in Iraq, and then the hospital in Germany. I asked a doctor to help us understand what happens in our brain in a concussion. "Think of an egg inside its shell and shaking it," said Dr. Pedro Caram, a neurosurgeon from Landstuhl Germany. "When you open it up, there will be disruption of the yolk and like a scrambled egg. The brain in a similar manner floats in spinal fluid, so the bottom of the skull being rough and the top of the skull being smooth, when the impact comes in, the brain gets shaken in the water bath and it will bump up against the inside of the skull bruising it, so that's what happens inside the head"
The Marines have already started sending pads to Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end of the year, the Marines will have more than 100,000 pad kits in the helmets of Marines.
Ellie
Oct 13, 2006 09:32 PM
by Karen Hensel
24 Hour News 8
I-Team 8 has learned the Marines are doing an about face on a safety issue for thousands of Marines at war.
There has been debate for months after the Army issued pads to go into the helmets of Army soldiers, and the Marines didn't.
The issue is concussions and traumatic brain injury to thousands of troops hit by roadside bombs. At the urging of a congressional hearing, the Marine Corps just finished testing which shows padded helmets do give more protection against the blast impact.
We saw many of those injured by roadside bombs when 24 Hour News 8 visited troops in Iraq, and then the hospital in Germany. I asked a doctor to help us understand what happens in our brain in a concussion. "Think of an egg inside its shell and shaking it," said Dr. Pedro Caram, a neurosurgeon from Landstuhl Germany. "When you open it up, there will be disruption of the yolk and like a scrambled egg. The brain in a similar manner floats in spinal fluid, so the bottom of the skull being rough and the top of the skull being smooth, when the impact comes in, the brain gets shaken in the water bath and it will bump up against the inside of the skull bruising it, so that's what happens inside the head"
The Marines have already started sending pads to Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end of the year, the Marines will have more than 100,000 pad kits in the helmets of Marines.
Ellie