HEALING THAT'S AHEAD OF THE TIMES

BY ROBERT L. FISCHER AND GRADY T. BIRDSONG

Editors Note: The Miracle Workers of South Boulder Road: Healing the Signature Wounds of War tells a dramatic story of how a severely disabled young stroke victim healed himself using an element that only nature can provide: oxygen. It also describes how he and three other "Miracle Workers" began to help others. He learned how to render this important treatment therapy to veterans returning home from the Middle East with traumatic brain injuries and related post-traumatic stress.

These Miracle Workers are healing lives with one of America's most successful integrated hyperbaric oxygen treatment and PTSD counseling programs. The following is the introductory segment in a series of articles about this process.

CHAPTER 1 BRAIN INJURIES – COMMON OCCURRENCES

Unfortunately, traumatic brain injuries are common occurrences and are ranked as one of the most prevalent injuries in our society today. As it is termed, TBI is a significant public health concern, especially in younger males and people in their elder years. Some of the most common causes of TBI for civilians include falls, motor vehicle crashes, being struck by objects or hitting against an object, and assaults. In 2010, 2.5 million TBI-related emergency room visits, hospitalizations, or deaths were recorded (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

THE SIGNATURE WOUNDS OF THE CURRENT WARS

TBIs have also become one of the signature wounds of our combat veterans in military deployment in the Middle East. Of the approximately 2.5 million U.S. troops who deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, it is estimated by study teams that a significant percentage suffer

from some degree of concussion and post-traumatic stress. TBIs, PTSD, and accompanying depression generally follow deployment. Almost thirty percent of combat veterans experience TBI and PTSD, the signature wounds of our present-day wars – and what yesterday's combat veterans knew as "shell-shock" and "battle-fatigue." Unfortunately, most of these wounds remain untreated and misunderstood.

Title: The Miracle Workers of South Boulder Road: Healing the Signature Wounds of War

Authors: Robert L. Fischer and Grady T. Birdsong Publisher: BirdQuill LLC Publication

Date: June 2016

Paperback: 212 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0997606805

Available at: amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

One of the more deadly weapons devised, IEDs, causes scores of mild to severe traumas for returning combat veterans. Those veterans who experience these wounds are familiar with IEDs and other concussive blasts. The author's son, Marine Sergeant Shane Birdsong, an infantryman, recorded two such blasts while on his first tours in Iraq.

The photo on the following page (Figure 1) shows a controlled blast by Marine combat engineers to destroy enemy ordnance found in an area while patrolling. This photo shows the magnitude of explosives in an IED cache typically discovered.