Data Integration for Hearing Conservation: SIDPERS to DOERHS-HC
LTC Vickie Tuten
The significant increase in hearing monitoring that is now occurring due to deployments/ redeployments pushes our technicians who run the DOEHRS-HC system to become increasingly more efficient. Fort Bragg has successfully mastered the process of demographic imports from SIDPERS into DOEHRS-HC. This saves significant time during the input process and reduces errors. The overall result is less stress for the audiometric technicians and a more efficient process. During this presentation we will provide information that will allow installation Hearing Conservation Program Managers to go back and interface with their Information Management Personnel to put this in place at their respective installations. Although CHCS II and DOEHRS-HC interface anticipated in the future may provide this same end result, this may be a good interim solution to implement.
Re-Establishing Reference Audiograms: The Process and the Pitfalls
Doug Ohlin, Ph.D.
Failures to confirm significant threshold shifts (STS) with follow-up testing and failures to re-establish reference audiograms can result in the same hearing shift being measured year after year and, in other cases, preclude opportunities to recognize additional hearing shifts. This lack of clinical bench level management undermines the purpose of monitoring audiometry to detect hearing loss before it becomes a communication handicap and a compensable disability. In addition, the differences between all STS occurrences on periodic tests and new cases of STS on periodic tests demonstrate how lack of follow-up testing and failures to re-establish reference audiograms can affect data trends. Responses compiled from DOEHRS-HC testing sites on explanations for testing and documentation shortfalls were developed into recommendations for improving compliance.
Applying Lessons Learned in Iraq to Garrison Hearing Conservation Programs
CPT Lisa Whitney
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) has broken new ground in the fields of Audiology and hearing conservation. The establishment of Audiology services in a sustained combat environment has provided a first hand look at the affects of combat on hearing, the impact of hearing loss on soldier readiness and the effectiveness of hearing conservation programs. Applying lessons learned in OIF to garrison hearing conservation programs will ensure a better protected fighting force.
Post Deployment Survey Results: 1st Infantry Division, Wuerzburg, GE
CPT Andy Merkley
Thousands of soldiers have deployed and re-deployed from combat environments throughout the world. Current data from DOD suggest that hearing loss is among the top disabilities in soldiers returning from combat. The 1st Infantry Division recently returned from operations in Iraq. Upon redeployment hearing testing and a hearing conservation questionnaire was administered to troops throughout the 11D footprint. This presentation will highlight the results of the questionnaire and couple the results with audiometric findings. Due to the large amount of data, the presentation will be limited to those who completely filled out the questionnaire and obtained a valid post-deployment audiogram. Analysis of the findings will be given.
Level Dependent Hearing Protection and Sound Recognition in an Open Field
LTC Lorraine Babeu
As the CAE is new to the Army’s inventory of personal protective equipment, there has been little research done by the US Army to determine the effects of the device on human performance such as the ability to recognize environmental sounds at a distance. Traditional earplugs reduce the frequency and intensity of sound in relatively uniform fashion and that makes it difficult to recognize sounds. Because the yellow side of the CAE attenuates unevenly across frequencies, it is possible that distortion of the sound may have a bigger impact on the user’s ability to recognize a sound in an open field. The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of level dependent hearing protection, when compared to traditional hearing protection, on the user’s ability to recognize sounds at various distances. Twenty-three individuals with auditory thresholds that met the Army’s definition of H-1 per AR 40-501 Standards of Fitness served as subjects for this project. Subjects were asked to identify sounds that were presented at each distance of 50, 100, 200 and 300 meters from the listener.
What Is It We Do Again? Army Audiologists
MAJ Eric Fallon
In a time of great changes within the Army, the roles and responsibilities of the 72C are also changing. To remain viable as an AOC, the 72C community must continue to redefine its importance to the military and perhaps more importantly, redefine for ourselves our relevance to an Army at war. The author will discuss both garrison and forward deployed services that the 72C could assume to better protect the soldier from hearing loss as well as increase survivability and lethality through better communication.
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