As of January 2020, service members in the Atlantic Resolve area of operation can get the help they need to recover from operational and deployment-related stress – without having to travel far from their unit.
The Restoration and Reconditioning Center is now available in Zagan, Poland, led by the 254th Medical Detachment, Combat Operational Stress Control. This five-day, highly structured program allows service members with combat or operational stress reactions to receive performance enhancement support services close to their unit.
“The RRC was initiated to address a myriad of psychosocial and occupational related deficits associated with behavioral health evacuations from the Atlantic Resolve AO,” said Maj. Donald Chase, an occupational therapist with the 254th Medical Detachment, COSC. “RRC operations have successfully kept Soldiers in the fight since the inception of expeditionary combat and operational stress control detachments.”
The program includes occupation-based functional activities, psycho-educational training, physical training, and performance counseling. The goal is to provide service members with individualized tools to enhance their coping mechanisms, boost occupational performance, and return them quickly to their unit.
“Our goal is to support war-fighters as far forward as possible by reinforcing their strengths and training as professional Soldiers,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Ian Bass, commander of the 254th Medical Detachment, COSC. “The RRC can and will help Soldiers overcome challenges and improve their functioning.”
In the past, service members with combat or operational stress reactions would be sent to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, or Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas for treatment. This was not only costly but also plummeted the return-to-duty rate to just five percent. Restoration and reconditioning programs have been utilized with great success in deployed environments to promote physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, and social health while allowing service members to remain near their assigned units and their established support systems. The comprehensive and proximal interventions offered by COSC reconditioning programs dramatically reduced non-acute behavioral health evacuations and increased Soldier and unit resiliency.
“It is our intent to intervene early with Soldiers when they are experiencing acute stress and equip them with concrete, specific functional skills,” said Maj. Angela Shrader, a psychiatric nurse practitioner with the 254th Medical Detachment, COSC. “The goal is to preserve the fighting strength and promote resilience by teaching Soldiers techniques to manage their symptoms before their stress levels reach an intensity that requires them to be evacuated.”
Service members in the Atlantic Resolve AO can obtain referrals to the program through commanders, first sergeants, combat and operational stress control providers, behavioral health officers, chaplains, or medical officers.
Date Taken: | 01.31.2020 |
Date Posted: | 01.31.2020 10:08 |
Story ID: | 361249 |
Location: | ZAGAN, PL |
Web Views: | 97 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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