Deploying troops getting priority for laser eye surgery
by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
10/26/2004 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Many people choose laser eye surgery because they think it will make them more attractive or save them from having to grapple to find their glasses.
But for an increasing number of servicemembers, laser eye surgery is not a cosmetic or convenience issue. It is about saving lives on the battlefield.
"The bottom line is that if you're in the middle of a fight and you can't see the enemy before they see you, you're dead," said Army Lt. Col. Scott Barnes, an ophthalmologist at the Warfighter Refractive Eye Clinic at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Colonel Barnes said that motivation has spurred servicemembers to flock to clinics "in droves" hoping to get the eye surgery before deployments.
Throughout the military services, there's a growing recognition that eyeglasses can be a battlefield liability.
Dirt, grime and lack of convenient hygiene facilities make contact lenses impractical in combat zones. On the other hand, eyeglasses break and fog up when subjected to the rigors of combat, like jumping out of airplanes, diving underwater or crawling through dirt and sand, Colonel Barnes said. Some troops complain that eyeglasses interfere with night-vision goggles or gas masks.
Afraid their eyeglasses might break, the colonel said many deployed troops stash extra eyeglasses in pockets and rucksacks -- wherever they can quickly retrieve them.
And although the military runs mobile eyeglass fabrication labs to replace broken eyeglasses, he said they simply cannot be as responsive as the 24-hour commercial eyeglass shops that dot American shopping centers nationwide.
Some troops question what might happen if they are taken prisoner and their captors take their glasses away from them. The colonel said troops ask, "How can you have any chance of escaping if you can't see?"
“The threat of having to go without glasses can be a psychological factor for a Soldier who is dependent on his glasses,” Colonel Barnes said. "It boils down to the fact that eyeglasses can be a liability."
He said he would like to be able to provide laser eye surgery for anybody who wants it, but that limited time and resources force him to give priority to troops most likely to see combat.
"For those guys on the front, in the heat of the battle, it's important for them to be able to be free of their glasses," he said.
The military has come a long way since 2000, when DOD first began allowing people with two common forms of laser eye surgery to enter the military with a medical waiver. People who received corrective eye surgery were previously ineligible for military service.
That move was based largely on groundwork laid by the Navy. Naval Medical Center San Diego launched the military's first refractive-surgery program in 1993, primarily serving Navy SEALS who had problems losing contacts or eyeglasses while parachuting or in the water.
Now all the services offer laser eye surgery, although rules vary about who is eligible to receive it and what military jobs they are able to fill. Laser refractive surgery is now permitted for all warfare communities within the Navy and Marine Corps.
Officials said Navy surgeons have performed more than 10,000 laser procedures to date. The Army's first Warfighter Refractive Eye Clinic, at Fort Bragg, opened its doors in May 2000 and has conducted about 16,000 of the surgeries, Colonel Barnes said.
The Air Force Warfighter Photorefractive Keratectomy Program became active at the end of 2001. Currently, qualified Airmen can get the surgery at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Texas; Travis Air Force Base, Calif.; the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.; Keesler AFB, Miss.; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The most common types of laser eye surgery offered are photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, and laser in-situ keratomileusis, often referred to as LASIK.
The colonel said 80 percent of his patients chose PRK, a procedure that requires a slightly longer healing time but has less risk of complication. |
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