Spinal Cord Injuries Are Rising Sharply Among Troops In Afghanistan

Posted on | December 14, 2009 | No Comments

Recent short article from the Nov 4th USA Today (“Spinal injuries up among troops”) didn’t get much public notice, but it sure got my attention.

Turns out that, contrary to everything we’ve been hearing for some time about how spinal cord injuries are way down in Iraq, those injuries are actually way UP in Afghanistan.

And that plays directly with future placements of service dogs with OEF veterans. I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out that with the recent increased troop levels, the reality is we’re likely going to see a concurrent increase in SCI for some time.

Which means we need to be taking a real hard look at things like the types and quality of service dogs we’re training and especially where government funding is going to be allocated for those dogs.

The overwhelming emphasis in the press, Congress, and even the Army in recent months has been placing dogs where post-traumatic stress or other mental health issues are the primary concern. While that’s certainly understandable during a time when the Army has just announced a record suicide level and everyone’s grasping for solutions, we can’t afford to lose sight of the more traditional need for those with severe physical injuries, particularly SCI. In some cases – like legislation that arbitrarily says 50% of the veterans who receive dogs must suffer from primarily mental health issues – I think we already have.

Given the length of time it takes to adequately train effective service dogs (not to mention moving things through government bureaucracies), NOW is the time to reassess and readjust as necessary, not several years down the road when it’s too late.