Non Combat Medic

[diver]

Hello all. I have been reading this sight for years now and this is my first post. I have been diagnosed with PTSD by the VA. I was a medical specialist 91B10 at Ft Hood in the early 90s. I was assigned to a forward support battalion and spent around 6 months out of the year pulling medical coverage for the tankers. I also had rotations at a troop medical clinic and I have worked on a lot of people. I have many nightmares of these people constantly. Just to give you an idea of what I have seen. I had a cook that was refueling one of the field stoves and she ended up catching herself on fire in front of me. She ended up with some small injuries and smoke inhalation. It is the fire ball that still bothers me today. I have also had a patient that ran under stairs and hit his head causing him to split his scalp from ear to ear and pull the scalp behind his head. I had a helicopter loose power on me at night as I was with a patient heading back to post from a field problem. The emergency red lights flashing and the pilots panicking before they were able to start the engines again. I also had a patient come in that had his eye slashed open from a cable that snapped as he was pulling an engine out of a tank. I do not have any dates for these issues. I worked on so many people that I don’t remember all of them.

I am always depressed, Panicked, stressed, avoid people and places, I avoid my own family and I see my friend from before my service time maybe once a year. I do work because I cant let my kids suffer with loosing there home. I am not worth them having to loose things because of me. My psyche has insisted to me that they do not need to verify them anymore. Also my DAV rep seems to not be interested in adding this to me existing depression and anxiety claim.

My question is. I have put in for disability for this because my psyche told me that I needed to but is there really a possibility of receiving it with no dates for the stressor verification.

[militarynurse]

Medics, nurses and other medical personnel, especially those working in critical care, trauma and ER settings...be it combat or non-combat, have an increased risk of developing PTSD and other serious mental health conditions due to repeated exposure to extreme stressors while performing their jobs. Being around all manner of damage to the human body, dying and death can understandably take its toll. There are numerous studies that support this finding.

Edited February 2, 2015 by militarynurse

[diver]

Thank you militarynurse

I have always been ashamed that I have had these problems. I believed that I was just a medic no different than any other medic. My father-in-law and brother-in-law were both corpsman and never seemed to have problems so I just pushed it deep inside and drove on. It wasn’t until recently that I found out that they never worked on people and that most medics don’t ever work on traumatic injuries. They mostly work in clinics and hospitals. I had no idea that what I was doing was more extreme than most. I spent 20 years ashamed of not being able to handle the memories. I am extremely proud of what I did and would do it all over again. I would still gladly give up my own life to save someone else and that will never change. My VA psych can’t comprehend that I would still sacrifice myself to save someone. That will never change.

Diver (doc)

[diver]

Just checked Ebenefits and my claim is at preparation for notification!

Very excited and nervous.

[georgiapapa]

diver,

Start checking for your AB8 letter or other letters on Ebenefits under downloadable VA letters. Your new ratings will probably show up there before you actually receive your BBE. Also, keep checking your direct deposit account for retro.

Good luck.

Georgiapapa.

[diver]

new raiting at 90% very excited but I went to file new claim and I do not have anything for PTSD or MDD. what is listed does not equal 90% so I may have to wait for the big brown letter.

[georgiapapa]

diver,

Congratulations on your new rating. I received my BBE just a few days after my new rating showed up on ebenefits. Hopefully, you will receive your BBE soon.

Good luck to you and thank you for your service.

Georgiapapa