Title: Exposures of Concern to Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/ Operation Iraqi Freedom
1 Exposures of Concern to Veterans of
Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi
Freedom
- Ron Teichman, MD, MPH, FACP, FACOEM
2Operation Enduring Freedom
- Referred to as OEF
- Primary theater of combat is Afghanistan
- Began October 7, 2001
3Operation Iraqi Freedom
- Referred to as OIF
- Primary theater of combat is Iraq
- Many troops in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc.
- Began March 20, 2003
4Perspective
- Total number of US service members deployed
1,700,000 - Total number of US service members separated,
i.e., Veterans 1,016,213 - Received some health care from VA 454,121
45 of returnees - 95 outpatient, 5 inpatient
5Perspective contd.
- VHA sees approximately 5,500,000 Veterans per
year - 454,121 OEF/OIF Veterans seen over 7.5 years
- OEF/OIF Veterans seen over 7.5 years
approximately 8 of Veterans seen in a single year
6Seamless Transition
- The transfer of personnel from the Department of
Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs - DoD DVA
- Service Member to Veteran
- Post-Deployment Health Assessment upon return
(PDHA) - Post-Deployment Health Re-Assessment in 3-6
months (PDHRA)
7Percentage of OEF/OIF service members who
endorsed Exposure Concerns on PDHA and PDHRA
(9/07-10/08)
- Active component
- Pre-Deployment n245,378 0.0
- Post-Deployment n224,511 16.2
- Reassessment n189,933 21.2
- Reserve component
- Pre-Deployment n85,843 0.0
- Post-Deployment n75,174 24.9
- Reassessment n96,886 34.8
- Frequency of exposure concerns rise after 3-6
months - MSMR Vol. 15 / No. 7 Sept. 2008
8Proportion of service members who endorse
exposure concerns on post-deployment health
assessments (1/04-8/08)
- MSMR Vol. 15 / No. 7 Sept. 2008 MSMR Vol. 15 /
No. 7 Sept. 2008
MSMR Vol. 15 / No. 7 Sept. 2008
9Top five Concerns of Veterans from Afghanistan
and Iraq
- Sand
- Noise
- Smoke from trash
- Vehicle exhaust
- JP8 or other fuel
- MSMR Vol. 12 / No. 8 Nov. 2006
10Frequency of OEF/OIF service member exposure
concern reported on the PDHRA (9/05-8/06)
MSMR Vol. 12 / No. 8 Nov. 2006
11Top ten environmental exposures of concern
OEF/OIF
- Smoke from burning trash or feces (44.6)
- Sand and dust storms (41.5)
- Gasoline, Jet Fuel, Diesel Fuel (21.1)
- Depleted Uranium (19.0)
- Paint, solvents, other petrochems (15.2)
- Oil well fire smoke (14.9)
- Contaminated food and water (14.4)
- Anthrax Vaccine (14.2)
- Multiple Vaccinations (13.9) 89gt3
- Vehicular Exhaust (10.3)
- Seen at NJ WRIISC, n612. 1889 concerns, range
0-15
12Top ten environmental exposures of concern Gulf
War
- Protective gear/alarms (82.5)
- Diesel, kerosene, other petrochems (80.6)-3
- Oil well fire smoke (66.9)-6
- Local food (64.5)-7
- Insect bites (63.7)
- Harsh weather (62.5)-2
- Smoke from burning trash or feces (61.4)-1
- Within 1 mile of missile warfare (59.9)
- Repellants and pesticides (47.5)
- Paint, solvents (36.5)-5
- From Schneiderman, Lincoln, Wargo, et. al., APHA,
12-14-05 -
13Prevalence () of exposures common to Vietnam,
Persian Gulf and Bosnia-Kosovo
14