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Injured recruits misdiagnosed then dropped by military
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/02/12/bc-injuredsoldiers.html
Ex-soldiers say they have been left disillusioned and permanently disabled
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 | 9:06 PM ET
CBC News
Former recruit Natasha Howell says her faith in the Canadian Forces is shattered.
"I'm 30 years old and I have to learn how to walk," said Natasha Howell. "They saw my injury. They knew it and they still didn't do anything about it — nothing."
What the doctors at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu told Howell was a sprained ankle in September 2005, required reconstructive surgery two years later after she was discharged.
"People are shattering their feet, breaking their hips — because they are being pushed so far beyond their limit that their bodies can't do it," said Autumn Thomas, another former recruit, who injured her back during training.
Those experiences are "unfortunate," said Lt.-Col. Christian Mercier, the commander at CFLRS. "In the future, maybe we need to devote more time to the people who are here in those circumstances."
According to the Canadian military, more than 3,500 recruits go through basic training at CFLRS every year. In 2007, there were 234 injury accidents and 644 recruits and officer cadets were put on medical restrictions.
About three-quarters of the recruits complete their training successfully, the military said.
Howell's dream was to serve her country, like her brother, when she signed up in 2004. When she fell during training at CFLRS in bad weather, military doctors told her she had an ankle sprain. They put her on crutches but soon sent her back to training.
Howell said that over the next several months she kept telling the doctors that she was in a lot of pain, but never received proper treatment.
Natasha Howell, who signed up in 2004, says when she fell during training at CFLRS in bad weather, the military doctors told her she had an ankle sprain.
"You still had to do the marching, you still had to do the drill," she said. "If you've been there [the medical clinic] numerous times with the same injury, they just think you are complaining and want to get out of training.
"I never wanted to get out of training. I was really hurt."
Howell was taken out of her platoon and eventually discharged from the Canadian Forces for medical reasons. Back home in Sydney, N.S., she said her civilian doctor was shocked to see that her ankle injury had gone untreated for two years and ordered immediate surgery.
"They actually found that my injury had gotten worse after walking on it for two years," said Howell. "The cut in the bone got another millimetre in depth and the actual ligament was non-existent and the other one was pretty much shredded."
Howell spent months depressed and learning to walk again. She is now unemployed and permanently disabled. The worst part, she said, is her dream of being a soldier is shattered — along with her faith in the Canadian Forces.
"I was proud to be in the military," Howell said. "After being treated the way I was treated — or I should say not treated for my injury — made me feel like I was a waste of their time."
Howell wiped away tears as she described how her life has changed.
"I used to run and walk and exercise. I was always out," she said, "Now, there's just a lot I can't do that I want to do. I spend my time thinking, what I am going to do with the rest of my life?"
Thomas signed up last year and then fell when a mound of dirt she was climbing during an exercise gave way. Like Howell, she said she told doctors she had shooting pain down her leg, but they didn't diagnose herniated disks in her back until much later.
"They're pushing us really hard to get through the training because we are so short-staffed in the military, they just want us to get in, get done and get out," said Thomas.
Thomas was also discharged last year on administrative release, a category that means she doesn't qualify for military health coverage. She's struggling with back pain while in nursing school in Mission, B.C., and can't afford the physiotherapy she needs.
"It's destroyed my life," she said. "I wouldn't go back to the military. I would not recommend it to anyone right now until they get this fixed."
Mercier said the biggest problem during training is that some recruits just aren't fit enough to make the cut and that the people the Forces send to Afghanistan need to have a certain mental and physical robustness to be able to cope.
"I have a lot of respect for these two individuals and I hope that they will have and enjoy a full recovery," said Mercier. "It is very sad to hear that it turned out to not be that good of an experience for them.
"We do our best to provide them with the ideal conditions," said Mercier, "But we do have certain limitations here in terms of a training institution and the environment that we can actually provide to these individuals to get proper care."
Mercier insisted pressure to train recruits quickly for deployment overseas is not a problem and CFLRS has enough medical staff and resources to do the job.
However, an e-mail sent to Thomas last fall by another officer at CFLRS pointed to increased pressure and stretched resources.
"I hope you understand that with the amount of people that we have going through St-Jean that certain mistakes will be made," Capt. Robert Tanguay wrote. "The force expansion is creating all kinds of special circumstances for a lot of people and our health services is doing some extensive catching up, in order to provide proper care for the CF members."
Mercier also said the recruits' experiences were not what they should have been.
"Things happen," he said. "Maybe we didn't help those people good enough. But I can tell you something, an interview like the one we are doing [with CBC News] now makes us look at how we do business how we can do business better in the future."
MOD EDIT: took out the picture captions to make it readable.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/02/12/bc-injuredsoldiers.html
Ex-soldiers say they have been left disillusioned and permanently disabled
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 | 9:06 PM ET
CBC News
Former recruit Natasha Howell says her faith in the Canadian Forces is shattered.
"I'm 30 years old and I have to learn how to walk," said Natasha Howell. "They saw my injury. They knew it and they still didn't do anything about it — nothing."
What the doctors at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu told Howell was a sprained ankle in September 2005, required reconstructive surgery two years later after she was discharged.
"People are shattering their feet, breaking their hips — because they are being pushed so far beyond their limit that their bodies can't do it," said Autumn Thomas, another former recruit, who injured her back during training.
Those experiences are "unfortunate," said Lt.-Col. Christian Mercier, the commander at CFLRS. "In the future, maybe we need to devote more time to the people who are here in those circumstances."
According to the Canadian military, more than 3,500 recruits go through basic training at CFLRS every year. In 2007, there were 234 injury accidents and 644 recruits and officer cadets were put on medical restrictions.
About three-quarters of the recruits complete their training successfully, the military said.
Howell's dream was to serve her country, like her brother, when she signed up in 2004. When she fell during training at CFLRS in bad weather, military doctors told her she had an ankle sprain. They put her on crutches but soon sent her back to training.
Howell said that over the next several months she kept telling the doctors that she was in a lot of pain, but never received proper treatment.
Natasha Howell, who signed up in 2004, says when she fell during training at CFLRS in bad weather, the military doctors told her she had an ankle sprain.
"You still had to do the marching, you still had to do the drill," she said. "If you've been there [the medical clinic] numerous times with the same injury, they just think you are complaining and want to get out of training.
"I never wanted to get out of training. I was really hurt."
Howell was taken out of her platoon and eventually discharged from the Canadian Forces for medical reasons. Back home in Sydney, N.S., she said her civilian doctor was shocked to see that her ankle injury had gone untreated for two years and ordered immediate surgery.
"They actually found that my injury had gotten worse after walking on it for two years," said Howell. "The cut in the bone got another millimetre in depth and the actual ligament was non-existent and the other one was pretty much shredded."
Howell spent months depressed and learning to walk again. She is now unemployed and permanently disabled. The worst part, she said, is her dream of being a soldier is shattered — along with her faith in the Canadian Forces.
"I was proud to be in the military," Howell said. "After being treated the way I was treated — or I should say not treated for my injury — made me feel like I was a waste of their time."
Howell wiped away tears as she described how her life has changed.
"I used to run and walk and exercise. I was always out," she said, "Now, there's just a lot I can't do that I want to do. I spend my time thinking, what I am going to do with the rest of my life?"
Thomas signed up last year and then fell when a mound of dirt she was climbing during an exercise gave way. Like Howell, she said she told doctors she had shooting pain down her leg, but they didn't diagnose herniated disks in her back until much later.
"They're pushing us really hard to get through the training because we are so short-staffed in the military, they just want us to get in, get done and get out," said Thomas.
Thomas was also discharged last year on administrative release, a category that means she doesn't qualify for military health coverage. She's struggling with back pain while in nursing school in Mission, B.C., and can't afford the physiotherapy she needs.
"It's destroyed my life," she said. "I wouldn't go back to the military. I would not recommend it to anyone right now until they get this fixed."
Mercier said the biggest problem during training is that some recruits just aren't fit enough to make the cut and that the people the Forces send to Afghanistan need to have a certain mental and physical robustness to be able to cope.
"I have a lot of respect for these two individuals and I hope that they will have and enjoy a full recovery," said Mercier. "It is very sad to hear that it turned out to not be that good of an experience for them.
"We do our best to provide them with the ideal conditions," said Mercier, "But we do have certain limitations here in terms of a training institution and the environment that we can actually provide to these individuals to get proper care."
Mercier insisted pressure to train recruits quickly for deployment overseas is not a problem and CFLRS has enough medical staff and resources to do the job.
However, an e-mail sent to Thomas last fall by another officer at CFLRS pointed to increased pressure and stretched resources.
"I hope you understand that with the amount of people that we have going through St-Jean that certain mistakes will be made," Capt. Robert Tanguay wrote. "The force expansion is creating all kinds of special circumstances for a lot of people and our health services is doing some extensive catching up, in order to provide proper care for the CF members."
Mercier also said the recruits' experiences were not what they should have been.
"Things happen," he said. "Maybe we didn't help those people good enough. But I can tell you something, an interview like the one we are doing [with CBC News] now makes us look at how we do business how we can do business better in the future."
MOD EDIT: took out the picture captions to make it readable.
