Terrorism survivors’ plea to Maryland
Maryland emergency services officials
recently rejected a proposal from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to become a Washingtonarea trauma center. As terrorism survivors, my wife and I regard this as a failure of vision and leadership.
On April 15, 2013, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people were killed and more than 230 were injured. My wife and I, both civilians, sustained traumatic amputations, ruptured eardrums, shrapnel wounds, depression, anxiety, mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress. Boston’s worldrenowned health care system was unable to provide integrated care that links specialists in surgery, rehabilitation and behavioral health to help survivors with complex, multisystem injuries. This made the process of navigating from doctor to doctor extremely difficult. Fortunately, we were granted access to Walter Reed’s highly integrated care. The hospital’s staff devised and implemented a coordinated and comprehensive treatment plan.
Inspired by our experience, we are working with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to include an amendment in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that will allow civilians with traumatic injuries to receive treatment in military hospitals. In addition to benefiting civilian trauma survivors, this will help military trauma teams maintain their skills and prepare the next generation of healt care providers. We also support Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s call for an integrated civilian-military medical system to advance trauma care and save lives.
Maryland officials should see Walter Reed as a unique national security hospital. It helped my wife and me survive and thrive after catastrophic trauma. Its expertise should be made available to metro D.C. citizens, the millions of annual visitors and our nation. Patrick Downes, Psy.D. Jessica Kensky, RN
Cambridge, Mass.