EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. The month highlights the opportunity for active-duty service members, veterans, their families to learn about signs, symptoms and treatment options for TBIs.
Team Eglin held a kickoff event March 1. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Ediger served as keynote speaker at the ISC’s Brain Injury Awareness Month kickoff event. Ediger was the Air Force Surgeon General when the Invisible Wounds Clinic, now the Intrepid Spirit Center, was established in 2017.
“Since its establishment, the ISC has demonstrated its value,” Ediger said. “It has helped many service members and continues to develop and evolve its capabilities in providing support to those who experience TBI, going forward.”
At Eglin, the ISC supports the whole of the service member in the recovery process. Unlike traditional military medicine, the ISC utilizes a four-pillar approach to care, with focus on the mental, physical, social, and spiritual aspects of the injury.
The ISC also utilizes novel integrative treatments that include art and music therapies, and acupuncture, as well as traditional healthcare services that include detailed medical and mental health treatment.
“As the Air Force’s only Intrepid Spirit Center, we are dedicated to improving the lives of patients and families affected by traumatic brain injury through collaborative efforts between patients, families, and referring providers,” said Lt. Col. Cade Reedy, ISC director.
Reedy said the ISC provides care to tri-service and total force members with TBI and other invisible wounds of war through excellence in TBI clinical care, research, and education. The center offers 16 different therapies under one roof, which enhances collaborative care and eases some of the burden for patients.
For more information on the ISC’s Brain Injury Awareness Month activities, call 883-9484.