Iraq War Veteran Rusty Ouart to Receive His Long Awaited,
Well Deserved,  Purple Heart

Iraq War Veteran Rusty Ouart will finally get his Purple Heart. The North Dakota Congressional Delegation announced Friday, Dec. 1, that Ouart, who suffered a Concussive traumatic brain injury and shrapnel wounds from a mortar attack, will receive the medal.

Ouart is a former law enforcement officer in Frazee. He is also a 1982 Frazee High School graduate, where he participated in football and wrestling.

Ouart enlisted in the United States Navy and after recruit training in San Diego; he completed Navy school and graduated in the top 1 percent of his class at Naval Aviation Air Crew Candidate School, (NACCS) Pensacola, Fla. He was then automatically transferred to the Navy’s top Search and Rescue School located in Pensacola.

Dr. Paul Harch Hyperbarics Inc. HBOT Treatments
for Neurological Disorders

Marrero,LA

The Family Physicians' Center remains the primary HBOT practice site of Dr. Harch. This facility is equipped with 4 Sechrist monoplace hyperbaric oxygen chambers and TCOM (transcutaneous oxygen monitors). Both off-label and typically reimbursed indications are treated. This hyperbaric oxygen therapy clinic is one half mile from West Jefferson Medical Center with its multiplace hyperbaric department and the high resolution SPECT brain scanner that Dr. Harch uses for Scan-Dive-Scan procedures. Phone interviews, appointments, and New Orleans consultations can be scheduled by calling the office at: 504.309.4948

Wounded Troops Report Relief from Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
DoD is Waiting for Results from Studies Before Endorsing it

By Patricia Kime
pkime@militarytimes.com

Retired Army Sgt. Margaux Vair believes breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber eased the manifestations of her brain injury — migraines, memory loss and facial paralysis.

Vair, a military policewoman, was on deployment in Iraq in 2006 when her Humvee struck a roadside bomb, smashing herhead against the turret and briefly knocking her out. Three days later, she returned to duty and served three more months — until her vehicle rolled over another bomb.

“That’s when the nerve problems started,” she said. “I don’t know when the headaches began.”

Today, the Kent, Ohio, resident shows little evidence of paralysis and the headaches have faded — improvements she attributes to treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, the same pressurized units used for healing scuba divers with the bends.

A growing body of anecdotal evidence appears to indicate that hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, helps patients with traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Oxygen Treatment Holds Promise For Those With Traumatic Brain Injuries

Posted by Pierce Egerton

Monday, November 28, 2011 12:57 PM EST

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-concussion syndrome (PCS) are all too frequently the result of motor vehicle accidents. Those who suffer such injuries often endure long-lasting effects. New research from Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center offers new hope for those with TBI/PCS – even those whose injury may have been years before.

Research led by Dr. Paul Harch, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at LSUHSC and published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, found that treatment with hyperbaric oxygen nearly three years after injury significantly improved function and quality of life for veterans with TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           CONTACT: Harch Hyperbarics Inc.

                                                                                           (504) 309-4948

LSUHSC Research Shows Rx with Hyperbaric Oxygen Improved TBI & PTSD in Veterans

New Orleans, LA – Research led by Dr. Paul Harch, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that treatment with hyperbaric oxygen nearly three years after injury significantly improved function and quality of life for veterans with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The findings are available online now in the Journal of Neurotrauma.

            Sixteen US veterans injured in Iraq who had been diagnosed with mild-moderate traumatic brain injury/post-concussion syndrome (TBI/PCS) or traumatic brain injury/post-concussion syndrome/post-traumatic distress disorder (TBI/PCS/PTSD) were enrolled in the pilot study. They completed a history and physical exam as well as a clinical interview by a neuropsychologist, psychometric testing, symptom and quality of life questionnaires, and baseline SPECT (Single-photon emission computed tomography) brain blood flow imaging prior to treatment. The veterans then underwent 40 treatments of low-dose hyperbaric oxygen therapy during 60-minute sessions over a 30-day period. They were retested within a week after treatment.

A Phase I Study of Low Pressure Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for

Blast-Induced Post Concussion Syndrome and

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Harch P, Andrews SR, Fogarty E, Amen DG, Pezzullo JC, Lucarini J, Aubrey C, Taylor DV, Staab P, Van Meter K.

Louisians State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Medicine, 1816 Industrial Blvd, Harvey, Louisiana, United States, 70058, 504-366-1445, 504-366-1029; paulharchmd@gmail.com.

This is a preliminary report on the safety and efficacy of 1.5 ATA HBOT in military subjects with chronic blast-induced mild-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI)/post-concussion syndrome (PCS) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Method: 16 military subjects received forty 1.5 ATA/60 minute HBOTs in 30 days. 

Symptoms, physical and neurological exams, SPECT brain imaging, neuropsychological and psychological testing were completed before and within one week after treatment.

Results:

The American Legion Magazine

 

The War Within: Part II- Paths to Healing

The prescription for relief from PTS is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

By Steve B. Brooks - October 1, 2011

http://www.legion.org/magazine/159052/war-within-part-ii-paths-healing

The prescription for relief from PTS is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Tim Hecker joined the Army at 18 and soon decided to make a career of it. He served 22 years in all, in and out of combat, rising to the rank of master sergeant. In the summer of 1990, he married his high‑school sweetheart, Tina, and the couple had three children.

Then Tim couldn't remember having married Tina. He couldn't tell his sons apart. Their names escaped him.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Gives a Soldier His Life Back

Jacob L. Mathers
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Testimonial

            My son was injured on April 17, 2006 during his 2^nd tour to Iraq in Ramadi.  A car bomb made its way into their compound, and blew up.  After completing his 2^nd tour, we began to notice changes.  Jake then went on a third tour with the 22^nd MEU.  Upon his return in January 2008, he was complaining of everything from nightmares, panic attacks, migraine headaches, memory problems, eye control, forgetfulness, and more.  We began seeing more and more of these symptoms appear.  I had to assist my son in 2008 from 2500 miles away, get to and from doctor visits. I had to remind him of the time, remind him what time he needed to leave, sometimes assist him while driving to get to the proper place.  He had an appointment in Raleigh, NC and had to drive from Camp Lejeune.  The drive to the doctor took him a little over 2 hours.  Coming home, it took him 9 hours.  He kept forgetting where he needed to go.  He got turned around, and finally I had to stay on the telephone with him while looking at a road map to guide him back to the base.