Mitigating PTSD: Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA526234&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

Mitigating PTSD: Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

COL Ramona M. Fiorey


The War on Terror is characterized by a tenacious enemy, longevity, repeated deployments, unpredictable risk of injury and death, and an expectation of higher order of performance. It has extracted a tremendous toll on Soldiers exposed to combat related stress. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a signature injury of this war with far reaching implications that include reduced unit operational effectiveness, damaged lives, and enormous resource expense. In addition to identification, evaluation and treatment of PTSD, effective leadership may be a means to reduce the impact of PTSD. Research indicates that some combat units are more resilient than others and that this is directly attributable to leadership. PTSD is an emotional response to situational or environmental stressors that requires leaders who understand the influence of emotions on human response and can use emotional competence to create environments that enhance resilience. Current military doctrine does not adequately emphasize integration of emotional intelligence in leadership development. The incidence of PTSD is anticipated to continue in OEF. Every avenue for reducing the impact of it should be leveraged.

Public Health Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Weapons

http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2010/RAND_RP1415.pdf

Public Health Preparedness for Chemical,
Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Weapons


Lois M. Davis and Jeanne S. Ringel


The U.S. public health and health-care delivery systems are important components
of our nation’s preparedness against terrorism and other public health threats (Trust
for America’s Health 2006). The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the anthrax
attacks later that year renewed government, public health, and medical personnel’s awareness of chemical, biological, and, to a lesser extent, radiological and nuclear threats. It also underscored the importance of ensuring the nation’s overall preparedness and ability to respond to terrorism and other public health emergencies. Toward this end, the federal government has invested more than $5 billion (Nelson et al. 2007) in public health preparedness at the state and local levels since 2001. With an investment of this magnitude questions naturally arise as to what
return has been received. Is the nation prepared to effectively respond to the next public health emergency? This is a challenging question to answer for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there is no clear, consensus definition of what public health preparedness is and thus no specific goal against which to gauge progress. In addition, because the investment is relatively recent, there is very little literature evaluating the effectiveness of these federally funded programs. The effect of preparedness activities on the public health system more generally also complicates the question. Some states have leveraged preparedness resources to improve day-to-day public health activities (Staiti, Katz, and Hoadley 2003). However, others have cut state budgets in response to the federal increases, thereby shifting funding away from more traditional public health activities like tuberculosis prevention and control. Finally, the federal contribution to state and local public health preparedness has declined more than 20 percent over the past several years, raising concerns that much of the post-2001 progress will not be sustained (NACCHO 2007). This chapter presents a broad overview of the nation’s public health response system,
recent efforts to improve preparedness, and options for moving forward. Section 11.1 reviews federal efforts to define WMD threats and priorities. Section 11.2 looks at the current national response framework for a coordinated response in four functional areas. Section 11.3 looks at the issues in implementing this framework at the state and local levels, with a focus on coordination issues. Section 11.4 assesses the current state of public health preparedness. Finally, section 11.5 presents some brief conclusions.

The Case for Health and Safety

http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/the_case_for_health_and_safety.pdf


The Case for
Health and Safety
by TUC
The Case for Health and Safety smashes the myth that Britain is one of the safest places to work and demonstrates that health and safety at work is as relevant today as it has ever been.
TUC analysis of the most conservative official safety figures shows that at least 20,000 people - the equivalent of the entire population of the Orkney Islands - die early as a result of their work every year, through conditions such as occupational cancers and lung disorders, exposure to fumes and chemicals, and fatal traffic accidents.
The report finds that many workers are also injured during the course of their work. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that 246,000 workplace injuries should have been reported last year but many accidents go unreported or are not reported correctly.
The Case for Health and Safety reveals that 1.2 million working people in the UK believe they are suffering from a work-related illness. These illnesses include heart disease, stress, musculoskeletal disorders such as back, shoulder and neck pain, and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
The TUC reportdisputes claims, which have fed calls from business for regulations or 'red tape' to be reduced, that the workplace is now much safer than it has ever been.
While the number of fatalities and injuries at work is falling, modern workplaces are different to those of the past, and employees still face dangerous hazards, diseases and illnesses at work, says the TUC.
The TUC is calling on the Government to:
ignore calls from the business lobby to reduce regulation and enforcement;
champion the issue and appoint a Government 'tsar' for health and safety;
use the UK network of 150,000 trained union health and safety reps to even greater effect;
support the work of the HSE and local authorities in protecting people at work.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Despite the way that health and safety is often pilloried, for those who are made ill or injured at work and for the relatives of those who have died as a result of their work, health and safety is no joke.
'Regulation works, as long as it is enforced, and it saves lives and prevents the contraction of unnecessary illnesses. That is why the UK continues to need strong regulation and enforcement. Every one of the 20,000 annual workplace-related deaths could have been prevented and if the level of HSE and local authority funding is cut, the effects will be even more catastrophic.
'Fatalities are not just statistics - they are real people, with lives and families - and any fall in inspections and enforcement will lead to an increase in accidents, injuries and deaths, and will have a huge impact on the already grave problem of workplace diseases.'

Report of Evaluation of Decompression Sickness, Beale AFB 10-14 Aug 2009

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA526033&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

Report of Evaluation of Decompression Sickness, Beale AFB 10-14 Aug 2009

AFRL-SA-BR-TR-2010-0008


Robert S. Michaelson, Col, USAF, MC, SFS
Andy Pilmanis, Ph.D.
Thomas Morgan, Ph.D.

Convincing evidence of at least four very severe cases of central nervous system DCS and three cases of chokes. Several cases of probable and possible neurological and joint pain DCS cases. Cases are of a type and severity rarely found in flight operations. Appropriate treatment provided in the AOR. May be the direct result of increased physical activity in the cockpit and the longer (9-11 hours) altitude exposures. Signs and symptoms recur with a possible temporal relationship to the commercial flight home. Other factors undiscovered may also play a role; for example, homes are at a higher altitude than Beale AFB. Additionally, some subtle symptoms (i.e., fatigue) may be unrecognized and/or inadequately treated in theater prior to flight home. Symptoms persist for weeks, months, or longer and are very similar to traumatic brain injury symptoms. This may represent a "new" or previously unrecognized post-DCS syndrome.

Mitigating PTSD: Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA526234&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

Mitigating PTSD: Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

COL Ramona M. Fiorey

The War on Terror is characterized by a tenacious enemy, longevity, repeated deployments, unpredictable risk of injury and death, and an expectation of higher order of performance. It has extracted a tremendous toll on Soldiers exposed to combat related stress. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a signature injury of this war with far reaching implications that include reduced unit operational effectiveness, damaged lives, and enormous resource expense. In addition to identification, evaluation and treatment of PTSD, effective leadership may be a means to reduce the impact of PTSD. Research indicates that some combat units are more resilient than others and that this is directly attributable to leadership. PTSD is an emotional response to situational or environmental stressors that requires leaders who understand the influence of emotions on human response and can use emotional competence to create environments that enhance resilience. Current military doctrine does not adequately emphasize integration of emotional intelligence in leadership development. The incidence of PTSD is anticipated to continue in OEF. Every avenue for reducing the impact of it should be leveraged.

VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA526031&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf


VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Concussion/Mild
Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)



Introduction
The Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) was developed under the auspices of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) pursuant to directives from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VHA and DoD define clinical practice guidelines as:
“Recommendations for the performance or exclusion of specific procedures or services derived through a rigorous methodological approach that includes:
• Determination of appropriate criteria such as effectiveness, efficacy, population benefit, or patient satisfaction; and
• Literature review to determine the strength of the evidence in relation to these
criteria.”
The intent of these guidelines is to:
• Reduce current practice variation and provide facilities with a structured framework to help
improve patient outcomes
• Provide evidence-based recommendations to assist providers and their patients in the
decision-making process related to the patient health care problems
• Identify outcome measures to support the development of practice-based evidence that can
ultimately be used to improve clinical guidelines.

Towards Understanding the Role of Colour Information in Scene Perception using Night Vision Devices

http://dspace.dsto.defence.gov.au/dspace/bitstream/1947/10012/1/DSTO-RR-0345%20PR.pdf

Towards Understanding the Role of Colour Information
in Scene Perception using Night Vision Devices

Geoffrey W. Stuart and Philip K. Hughes
Air Operations Division
Defence Science and Technology Organisation
DSTO-RR-0345



Aviation Night Vision Devices (NVDs) are used to enable air operations under conditions of low
illumination. The current generation of devices uses a single sensitivity band in either the infrared or near-infrared range. The next generation of such devices may include detectors at more than one absorption band. This has the potential to enhance the segmentation of different surfaces and features in the visual scene. Colour can be used to display contrast between sensor bands. Different schemes for representing spectral contrast are described, and are evaluated with respect to human colour sensitivity. Research on the role of colour in object and scene recognition is reviewed. The available evidence suggests that natural colour plays a useful role in scene recognition when objects and surfaces have prototypical colours. Misleading, false or "unnatural" coloration, which is a by-product of colour NVDs, may impair scene recognition and situational awareness. An experimental investigation of the effect of green monochrome imagery with altered surface reflectances, representative of current generation NVDs, showed a clear
impairment in the recognition of complex urban scenes. The use of unnatural colour renderings in next-generation NVDs may lead to further impairment in scene recognition with consequences for situational awareness and effective navigation.