Replies

"The problem, as such, is not Walter Reed itself, or the people working there, it's the military."

I'd say it's more an Army problem. If you go over to Bethesda, you get great support and care. Same at most AF facilities.

WRAMC has always had a "support" problem - years before the War. It was my primary care facility from 1996 and the support staff was just as bad then as they are now. The medical staff, on the other hand, was and is superb.

I don't mind a rude clerk or two, but I'm not returning from Iraq. The men and women who get injured/wounded in Iraq/Afghanistan/WOT/on active-duty deserve quality care and that includes from the non-medical support staff as well.

I'd say it's more an Army problem. If you go over to Bethesda, you get great support and care. Same at most AF facilities.

WRAMC has always had a "support" problem - years before the War. It was my primary care facility from 1996 and the support staff was just as bad then as they are now. The medical staff, on the other hand, was and is superb.

I don't mind a rude clerk or two, but I'm not returning from Iraq. The men and women who get injured/wounded in Iraq/Afghanistan/WOT/on active-duty deserve quality care and that includes from the non-medical support staff as well.

I don't know the history behind WRAMC, but the problem maybe the Army, and more importantly, bureacracy - everything I've seen and heard, and what you've said, and others, the people are good.

It's just not made for handling a wartime situation apparently (or rather, it's not being maintained/managed as a wartime facility). My brother-in-law recently attended a little ceremony or some such in San Antonio at Brooke Army Medical Center, and said they are doing a lot to increase their capacity (I believe an Air Force medical wing is going to end up there as well, if they aren't already there). Obviously there is money somewhere - BAMC is bustling with activity.

It makes me wonder if, at some point, some senior Officer is going to step up and take responsibility.

We aren't losing that many soldiers and Marines a day - every now and then we might hit five or six, but the reason why we are not losing many (at least part of the reason), is soldiers and Marines are getting some amazing medical care in Iraq before they ever leave. My brother-in-law spent a few months working at one of the Air Force hospitals there, and said that there is very little they can't handle inside of Iraq these days - they are working on guys in Iraq, that in the past would have required being sent to Germany or the States before getting what they needed. He said there were civilian surgeons from several major hospitals in the States who were volunteering (mostly surgeons specializing in trauma-type injuries) getting experience they might not otherwise have gotten.

It makes me wonder, if they are getting first-rate care in Iraq, if WRAMC has been turned into basically a station where soldiers are stuck until they are processed out or something. BAMC and some of the others are specializing in treatment and care that WRAMC may not be equipped for - usually when I see BAMC in the news, it's either burn patients or amputees.

It's a disgrace, and it's pretty clear that there are problems (and I'm ignoring what's being said in the media and relying on reports from other FReepers as well as friends/family who know first or second-hand what's going on).