Dr. James P. Kelly, National Intrepid Center of Excellence director, speaks during a recent “Train the Trainer” workshop in Dallas. (Photo by Dr. Lori Millner)

Throughout February and March, I presented signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), in three “Train the Trainer” workshops in Los Angeles, Denver and Dallas, hosted by Area Health Education Centers (AHEC).

I was excited to be a part of this wide-reaching effort to bridge the gap between civilian and military TBI care, because advancing TBI care starts with increasing awareness across both systems.

Military and civilian providers see common TBI-related symptoms: constant headaches; sleep problems; blurred vision; eye-movement abnormalities; and co-occurring conditions, such as post-traumatic stress. Those of us in military medicine collaborate with civilian providers to better understand brain injury and how military individuals may exhibit symptoms differently.

Brain injury is often misunderstood; these workshops gave me the opportunity to demystify mild TBI and its signs and symptoms to participants. Attending health care professionals were eager to enhance their knowledge of TBI, and at the end of my session, I was pleased to hear “we get it!” from the audience.

At National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), part of our mission is to help our heroes recover, which makes us ideal trainers as standards of care evolve. When a service member comes to the center, he or she receives a thorough evaluation and a personalized treatment plan. We offer unique treatment programs, including art, recreation and music therapies to address the complex interactions of mild traumatic brain injury and psychological health conditions. NICoE uses computer-assisted rehabilitation and virtual environments to improve vision, reaction time, gait and multitasking ability. We also support individuals in their ongoing road to recovery after they leave NICoE.

Military and civilian providers, families, service members and veterans can go to Brainline.org, Brainlinemilitary.org and Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) 24/7 for information, support and ideas. DVBIC also offers guides and tip sheets for providers and those affected by TBI. I encourage you to review these resources, learn about TBI and become part of the conversation to improve care worldwide.

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The “Train the Trainer” initiative was created through a contract with Department of Health and Human Services and National AHEC Organization to broadly disseminate a program developed by North Carolina AHEC and Citizen Soldier Support Program, a Defense Department-funded program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.