Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces Medical Surveillance, Record Keeping, and Risk Reduction (1999) / Chapter Skim
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8 Protecting the Health of the Reserve Component
8 Protecting the Health of the Reserve Component
Pages 137-146
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From page 137... ...
The report found that: National Guard and reserve component personnel may differ substantially from active duty personnel in average age, level of training, occupational specialties, family status, and readiness for deployment. Further, it is unclear whether either policies and procedures or the manner in which they are implemented differs between activated reserve or National Guard units and active duty troops for mobilization, deployment, demobilization, and return.
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From page 138... ...
Published data and testimony from experts in the reserve force enabled the study team to document more clearly the distinctions between the reserve and active-duty forces in terms of access to health care, health surveillance programs, medical record keeping, preventive measures, and reintegration support. It has become apparent that the currently available resources are not adequate to ascertain the medical readiness of the reserve force, much less to provide the preventive services, health surveillance, and medical record keeping that the study team recommends for the total military force.
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From page 139... ...
. Demographics Both during and since the Gulf War, the demographics of service members in the reserve components have differed somewhat from those on active duty.
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From page 140... ...
Health Problems in Reserves Some data have indicated that after the deployment to the Gulf War the health toll was greater on reserve forces than on active-duty forces. The earliest investigations of reported health problems after the Gulf War were in response to symptoms reported in several different National Guard and Reserve units in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the southeastern United States.
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From page 141... ...
National Guard and Reserve service members deployed to the Gulf were roughly twice as likely to have participated in the Persian Gulf War registry than their active-duty counterparts (Gray et al., 1998~. UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES The circumstances of the reserve components create additional challenges for strategies to protect their health during and after deployments.
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From page 142... ...
A related problem for both reserve and active-duty forces that is exacerbated for the reserve force is the carryover of medical records to VA and the capture of health information from the civilian sector. The creation of a true lifetime medical record is a challenge for all forces, but it is far more complicated for the reserve force members, who move more frequently than activeduty force troops among the civilian, DoD, and VA health care systems (National Science and Technology Council, 1998; Brackett, 1999a)
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From page 143... ...
The Army Reserves thus frequently do not get physicals within the period of time required by law or get them at the expense of sustainment of training and readiness (Woody, 1999~. IMPLEMENTATION OF REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS Medical Surveillance Given the special circumstances of the reserve forces, some of the study team's recommendations might prove challenging for implementation for the reserve component.
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From page 144... ...
Among the recommendations generated by the summit was to conduct a phased study to identify reserve component member health risks, develop a focused reserve component health assessment tool, implement a pilot program with the tool to measure individual medical fitness, and implement use of the tool if successful. Use of the HEAR for reserves as recommended in this report should help to address the health information needs identif~ed by the Reserve Health Summit.
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From page 145... ...
This is also the case for the periodic physical examinations, which are assiduously performed for National Guard and Reserve pilots, but not as regularly performed for the geographically scattered Army Reserve. In 1997 a Reserve Health Summit considered alternatives to periodic physicals because compliance was sporadic and incomplete among the reserves (Woody, 1999~.
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From page 146... ...
Although their special circumstances make it impossible to mandate a health protection strategy identical to that used for active-duty forces, a coherent strategy should be developed to provide similar programs that work toward the same ends and that are provided adequate resources. Recommendation 8-1: Include the reserves in the planning, coordination, and implementation of improved health surveillance, record keeping, and risk communication.
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