The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
New guidelines from the Pentagon to monitor and reduce brain injuries among military personnel are a needed good start to reducing such trauma and its impacts. The new guidelines focus on shockwaves, the potential harmful effects of exposure to high-powered explosives and firearms.
These injuries, which impact tens of thousands of service members and veterans, are so common that the Pentagon created a Blast Injury Research Coordinating Office in 2007. The research it has conducted and commissioned has found that exposure to blasts, especially in combat zones, can have many long-lasting effects. Beyond physical injuries that are often sustained in these explosions, service members frequently experience hearing loss and traumatic brain injuries. It is also becoming increasingly clear that exposure to blasts has neurological impacts, some of which may not be apparent until much later.
Such injuries could have played a role in last year’s horrific mass shooting in Lewiston, in which 18 people were killed and 13 others injured.
A lab at Boston University found evidence of severe brain injuries in the Army reservist, Robert Card II, who is responsible for the Lewiston shooting last October.
Card was a member of the Army Reserve, where he was a petroleum supply specialist. But he also worked as a weapons instructor, specifically teaching his Army colleagues how to throw grenades.
The soldiers from his unit told The New York Times that Card could easily have been exposed to more than 10,000 blasts in all.
Better understanding the impacts of these blasts, and protecting military members from them, is essential.
The new Pentagon policy, released earlier this month, calls for new safety measures, including protective equipment and increased distances from blasts during training, and tracking of service members exposed to blasts. It also calls for simulation training when practical to avoid blast exposure and an assessment of the blast risks of existing and new equipment, with an eye toward using equipment that presents less blast risk.
“The more we focus efforts on the effects of blasts, the more we learn about the direct link to brain injury and how we can prevent these injuries in the future,” U.S. Sen. Angus King said in a press release after the new Defense Department policies were released.
“It is clear this is an urgent issue and I commend the Pentagon for fast-tracking these needed changes,” he added. “This urgency especially hits home for us here in Maine after reports showed the gunman responsible for the Lewiston shooting was repeatedly exposed to blasts during Army training events, likely causing a brain injury. This new policy marks another positive step toward helping our community heal, while also working to prevent unnecessary harm moving forward to our servicemembers and veterans. We have a solemn duty to protect the well-being of those who served to protect our nation and freedoms.”
In April, King and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins co-sponsored a bill that includes some of the improvements announced by the Defense Department but also goes further in the tracking of blast exposure and injuries and requires that blast risk be considered during weapons acquisitions and that existing weapons be modified to reduce blast exposure. The bipartisan bill also calls for stronger protections and services for those who seek treatment for traumatic brain injuries and other results of blast exposure.
“Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an all-too-often undetected or misdiagnosed condition that can have debilitating and tragic effects on our wounded servicemen and women. If these injuries go undiagnosed or are left untreated, the consequences can be devastating,” Collins said in a press release in April. “Our soldiers and veterans suffering from TBI as a result of their service deserve the best care and treatment our nation can provide. This bipartisan legislation will help improve critical research, accurate diagnosis, and lifesaving treatment for these heroes who serve and defend our nation.”
Whether through the new Pentagon policy or passage of this bill, the Defense Department must do more to protect service members from the harmful impacts of blasts, especially during training. If better understanding and prevention of these impacts can help prevent more families from experiencing a tragedy like what happened in Lewiston, then the military has a responsibility to pursue those changes.
