Va Hospital Wait = Another Dead Veteran

[Notorious Kelly]

Their son, an Iraq War veteran, was killed during a police standoff. The family said he turned to the Kansas City VA Medical Center for help, only to get turned away.

http://www.kctv5.com/story/25624962/family-vet-killed-in-weekend-standoff-sought-medical-care

How many of these stories are never heard.

[john999]

We had a vet here in the Tampa area who was completely insane. He was not getting treatment. He killed most of his family and died in a shoot out with police. The guy was so crazy he believed he was reincarnation of Prince David and was here to rid the world of sinners and evil. How does a guy like this slip through the cracks? The newspaper said he had been in Iraq and Afghanistan.

John

[63SIERRA]

Ive always felt that the Millitary should have a place where veterans can go, that is kind of like a halfway house where veterans can slowly transition back into mainstream society. A place where they can be with other soldiers and share experiences, rather than just thrown back into civillian life, where it seems like nobody gives a rats ass, that you have been fighting for your life, picking up pieces of your dead comrades, getting blown up and seeing others blown up, ect. We just finished the longest war in our short history as a nation, and the govt seems to be trying to ignore the vets who served many deployments during that long war. There is no excuse for turning that man away from the VA. Imagine how he must have felt, when the told him. WE DONT HAVE TIME FOR YOU.

[john999]

You know in Vietnam many soldiers were fighting for their lives in the jungle and two or three days later they were arriving home because they ETS'ed right out of Nam. I still hade some time to do, so I was not just dumped onto the street. However, on my 30 day leave I managed to land myself in a private hospital nuthouse for a few days. I was in no way fit to just be pushed out into civilian life.

I remember going to VFW after Nam and having these jerks tell me I was not in a real war. I tried to help another vet who had gotten bad paper and the VSO's just did nothing to help. I eventually called on the Red Cross and they helped. I have heard that troops coming back from WWII had time to decompress aboard ship on the way back. No 24 hour turnaround from the battle field to the shopping mall. I can really understand how the OIF/OEF vets must be confused. They can logon to a computer and talk to their wife and kid and then go out on a mission and kill or be killed. In Nam we had no email or phone calls. Just a letter in the mail and you were totally cut off from your former life and a crazy hostile environment. I think that is easier in a way. You just forget the World until you get short. I guess the same goes for OIF/OEF vets but with even more confusion over battlefield self and civilian self. The VA and the nation is failing vets and has failed them for decades.

[63SIERRA]

BAMSI medical center in san antone is an awesome place according to a friend of mine who worked there, but its mostly for physical injuries, amputees, ect. There should be a place for soldiers to go with mental and emotional problems to get extensive mental health treatment before the are just turned loose on the street. everything else the millitary does is gradual, and structured, but once gthe soldier has gone thru the complete process of training, then war, its over, just like you got finished a job cutting someones grass. put the lawnmower in the shed, and go home, .. This shit these guys were dealing with, as well as vietnam vets is just too much for an 18 to 25 year old mind to deal with, and just pick up the pieces and drive on. In WW2 just abt everyone who was of legal age, and many not of legal age, went to war, so it was a common thread amongst that generation when they returned to civillian life, they were all veterans and felt the kinship. Many of these guys will need help for the rest of thier lives, so the VA needs to make some big changes. At this point, because the VA has its head so far up its ass, the only viable solution I can see, is to offer a private healthcare option, If a veteran goes to the va for mental or emotional concerns and cant see someone RIGHT NOW who is qualified, , then they should be immediately transported to a civillian doctor.

[hmcquade]

Deinstitutionalization came into effect in the late 80's, you can thank big insurance companies and the government for that. Mental hospital were closed, now mentally ill men and woman were to get care from community mental health centers. I remember the VA Hospital in Bedford, MA had in inpatient psych ward and out patient counseling. and I think a lot of VA hospital back then did also.

Problem with caring for the mentally is they stop treatment, stop meds, decompensate, and if they are lucky someone calls the police and gets them hospitalized. What happens next is all too typical, the patient gets stable and discharged to home, they stop the meds. and the cycle starts again.

It is a broken system, some do get help, but I know many patients, no matter how hard you try to help them, are noncompliant. Many wind up in jail and prison, where they get little help if any.

Hugh