The Veteran Thread

[theoddz]

I hope everyone is having a good and safe holiday weekend. Please don't forget to take a second and remember those who fell while defending our country.

Semper Fi.



~Theo~

[DapperButch]

Thank you veterans and those we have lost. Big respect here!!

[theoddz]

This is interesting.....and a great way to honor Veterans.



~Theo~

[StoicStone]

I had a small reunion with a group of friends from the 75th Air Evac wing group Friday evening and earlier today. It was very nice to see them as I haven't seen many of them in 40 yrs. We shared our memories of our time in Viet Nam, celebrated the good memories and mourned our comrades who fell there, or have since passed.
One of my children put the reunion together and though I resisted the idea at first I am very grateful that she talked me into it. I have reconnected with some friends, some of whom live in the PNW, and we will be getting together regularly now.
You never know what the weekend will bring. lol

[theoddz]

Inexcusable......completely. There is NO EXCUSE for this!!!!!!

CNN Report on Legionnaires' Outbreak at Pittsburgh VA Medical Facility



Semper Fi.

~Theo~

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by theoddz

Inexcusable......completely. There is NO EXCUSE for this!!!!!!

CNN Report on Legionnaires' Outbreak at Pittsburgh VA Medical Facility

Semper Fi.

~Theo~

This is really horrifying Theo.

They basically allowed 22 deaths to occur and how many Vets were ill that survived the illness?

When I was a nurse manager in acute care hospitals, we constantly were improving our infection control processes. I know that you also worked in acute care.

It made me wonder if the VA actually has Joint Commission surveys or from Department of Health Services inspections in each state.

The most recent survey from Joint Commission I could find online was published in 2016. Infection control was one of the areas surveyed and that required improvement.

It made no mention, that I could find, of legionella in the water systems at the facility in the CNN investigation and I don't know if it was even one of the 139 reviewed:

..................
The Joint Commission Releases Results of VA Health Care Surveys to VA
August 4, 2016, 04:05:00 PM

The Joint Commission Releases Results of VA Health Care Surveys to VA
Surveys Note Challenges and Improvements

Note: This release was updated on August 5 and now contains a link to the report.

WASHINGTON - The Joint Commission today provided the results of its Special Focused Surveys of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare facilities to VA leadership. The special focused surveys, prompted by reported allegations of scheduling improprieties, delays in patient care and other quality-of-care concerns, were conducted October 2014 to September 2015 and focused on measuring the progress VA has made to improve access to care and barriers that might stand in the way of providing timely care to Veterans.

“One of my top five priorities is to seek best practices in research, education, and management. We invited The Joint Commission in to conduct these unannounced focused surveys at 139 medical facilities and 47 community based outpatient clinics (CBOC) across the country, to give a better understanding of areas for improvement and areas where the processes are worth replicating,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin.

The Joint Commission assessed the following:

>>Processes related to timely access to care;
>>Processes that may potentially indicate delays in care and diagnosis;
>>Processes related to patient flow and coordination of care;
>>Infection prevention and control
>>The environment of care; and
>>Organizational leadership and culture.

VA provided The Joint Commission with organization-specific data addressing performance in the key areas targeted for review. This data allowed surveyors to focus on areas of greatest risk for each organization and to validate whether the VA-provided data reflected observed practice. The Focused Survey project provided an opportunity to see patterns across the organization, to make an assessment about the system in general and most importantly, to identify solutions to system-wide issues that are best addressed through internal processes.

“We commend VA for being proactive by requesting The Joint Commission to conduct unannounced site visits at all their medical centers to review and evaluate their efforts to improve access and quality of care. VA was the first system ever to request an assessment with an important focus on access so that deficiencies could be identified and rapidly addressed,” said Mark Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, president and CEO of The Joint Commission. Chassin also noted, “The Joint Commission will track and report on the extent to which improvements occurred, when the same facilities undergo their triennial accreditation surveys.

To date, results from 57 hospitals that have undergone full accreditation are promising. We are pleased with VA’s ongoing commitment to quality improvement and patient safety.”

The full report, with findings and recommendations can be found at:

http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Joint-Com...n-May-2016.pdf

https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pres...se.cfm?id=2808

[*Anya*]

First woman enlists to become a Navy SEAL

By Nancy Coleman, CNN

Updated 1:02 AM ET, Sat July 22, 2017

(CNN)A woman will train with other potential officers this summer in hopes of becoming the first female Navy SEAL.

The candidate, a midshipman, and another woman have enlisted as the first female candidates seeking to join the Navy's special operations teams.

The latter is training for the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman program, or SWCC.

These women have already made history, but they still face a long road ahead of training and tests before they officially make the cut.

Women weren't allowed to serve in combat roles, including special operation forces such as the SEALs and SWCC, until January 2016. But there were no female applicants in the 18 months since that historic change until now.

The candidates' identities and training progress are confidential to protect their personal security and "career viability as future special operator," Lt. Cmdr. Mark Walton, a spokesman for Naval Special Warfare Command, told CNN.

Eight SEAL and seven SWCC classes -- all entirely male -- have graduated since March 2016, according to a Naval Special Warfare Center briefing last month for the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.

The SWCC candidate will undergo months of Navy training and screening evaluations, Walton said. The SEAL hopeful will be evaluated for three weeks at a SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection process in California as a prerequisite to SEAL training before moving on to a SEAL Officer Selection Panel in September.

Aspiring SEALs and SWCC candidates also go through rigorous Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, or BUD/S. The training comes in physically and mentally challenging stages, beginning with two months of intense physical training in Illinois. Candidates must pass a physical screening test at the end of the first stage or face being kicked out.

The next stages include basic conditioning, combat diving and land warfare training. One week during basic conditioning is known as Hell Week -- "the ultimate test of a man's will," according to the SEALs website.

The training is "designed to weed out the weak," as the Navy special operations training website warns. It's an accurate description, considering most candidates don't make it: Seventy-three percent of aspiring SEALs and 63% of SWCC candidates fail to make the cut, according to the Naval Special Warfare Center briefing in June.

There are about 1,000 SEAL candidates who start training every year, Walton said. Usually only about 200 to 250 candidates make it all the way through training.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/us/fir...rnd/index.html