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Naval Medical Center San Diego’s (NMCSD) Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care (C5) department reported that 65 percent of active duty members, who were given an Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis (IDEO) brace returned to active duty.
“Active duty service members whose lower extremities were injured, they would be medically separated from the military,” said C5 Medical Director, Lt. Elizabeth Awudele. “Basically, before the IDEO brace, service members were not able to run, so keeping them in an active duty status was nearly impossible. The IDEO brace makes retention of the service member very possible.”
Prior to the IDEO, service members would have to go through many surgeries and had long recovery times as a result of injuries to their knee and below from Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) blast injuries, gunshot wounds, and other injuries. As a result, many amputations were performed overseas, some were able to salvage the limb and return home.
“Our IDEO braces are made right here at NMCSD,” said Awudele. “The IDEO brace is much stronger and more reliable than any other brace out there. It can withstand high impact. Without it, most of the active duty service members who now use it would have been separated.”
There are currently three military treatment facilities that provide prosthetics care in house, NMCSD, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and Brooke Army Medical Center. NMCSD is the only West Coast Center of Excellence.
“Before IDEO, the options to service members were very limited,” said Richard Miltenberger, C5 IDEO specialist. “Many patients opted for amputation right away for quicker recovery times and frankly better outcomes the amputees were seeing.”
The IDEO was a game changer for many patients.
“The IDEO takes the technology used in high activity prosthetics and applies those principles to leg bracing,” said Miltenberger. “Since 2009, over 1,000 patients have been fitted with IDEO braces at all three military treatment facilities.”
As a person steps down onto the brace, the foot plate bends and transfers the energy forward taking the pain out of the equation.
Although the brace is available to all patients to help with injuries ranging from arthritis to drop foot, most patients who receive the IDEO are young, active service members who are looking to stay in the military.
“We prioritize active duty so we can return them to the fight,” said Awudele.
C5 has a unique approach to the care of injured service members. The C5 team is on one floor of the hospital, so staff can easily collaborate and talk about the best approach for each individual patient. The C5 team includes prosthetics, physical and occupation therapy, and the Gait Lab.
“We return service members to full active duty,” said Miltenberger. “That includes Navy SEALs, recon, infantry, you name it.”
After a patient receives their custom IDEO brace, they go through an intense 6-week program called the “Return to Run” physical training program.
“I have yet to hear complaints about the ‘Return to Run’ program,” said Miltenberger. “The program promotes camaraderie and pushes patients to the limit with what they can do with their new IDEO brace.”
Patients also have access to Health and Wellness programs. This includes both outdoor and recreational activities for recovering service members to participate in including hikes, cycling, surfing and many more.
“One of the biggest things we do is take someone from one of the lowest points in their lives, when they think there’s no hope and show them that with the IDEO, they can return to the fight,” said Awudele.
For more information on Naval Medical Center San Diego and the C5 Department, visit
http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcsd, www.facebook.com/nmcsd, www.twitter.com/nmc_sd or www.navy.mil/local/sd
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2018 16:35 |
| Story ID: | 263279 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 587 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, IDEO Braces Changing the Game for Service Members, by PO3 Harley Sarmiento, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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