Registry helps vets exposed to airborne hazards

#Middlebury #Veterans

Were you deployed in Desert Storm and Desert Shield to a location where there were airborne environmental contaminants, such as burn pit smoke, sand, dust and particles, and oil-well fire smoke? Do you suffer from any breathing problems that haven’t been diagnosed?

Have you signed up for the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry? That registry is to help the Department of Veterans Affairs (and you) be aware of health conditions that might be related to those burn pits and other airborne hazards.

As a first step, go online to the VA.gov website and search for Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. You’ll see the list of countries, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where service personnel were deployed. If you served on or after Aug. 2, 1990 in any of the listed countries, or in Afghanistan or Djibouti on or after Sept. 11, 2001, you may be eligible.

If so, and if you sign up on the registry, you will get a free medical workup. So far, nearly 180,000 veterans have enrolled. Even if you have no physical symptoms, sign up anyway. If you’re already signed up with VA health care, ask your primary-care provider to schedule an evaluation or call the environmental health coordinator at the closest VA facility.

If you enroll in the registry and it says you’re not eligible, work to have it corrected, as some records might be missing or inaccurate. Request an eligibility review.

If you have symptoms that medical providers haven’t been able to diagnose, push for your in-person, multiple-day specialty exam at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center in New Jersey. The VA recently opened the Airborne Hazards and Burn Pits Center of Excellence there to do research into these health issues.

© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.