War Related Illness and Injury Study Center

Telehealth Program for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Veterans at DC WRIISC

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Given the unique set of exposures and stressors that EOD warriors face during their service, the DC WRIISC interdisciplinary team developed a telehealth program for EOD Veterans.

• In an effort to serve a wide range of individuals in this unique population, DC WRIISC is offering telehealth EOD evaluations that include a comprehensive review of medical records and clinical assessments with medical professionals who have unique expertise in deployment health (i.e., occupational and environmental medicine, psychiatry, neuropsychology, health coaching, social work, integrative medicine and nutrition).
• This EOD evaluation generally consists of 4 to 5 days of video and/or telephone visits with the DC WRIISC clinical team that can be completed from a Veteran’s home.  Diagnoses are made when possible and clinical recommendations are shared directly with Veterans and their VA Primary Care Providers (PCPs).  In some cases, the DC WRIISC clinical team will ask that specific evaluations be completed at Veteran's local VA prior to scheduling this DC WRIISC EOD evaluation.  This is to ensure that the DC WRIISC clinical team has all relevant clinical information during the WRIISC evaluation.  DC WRIISC asks that medical records from clinical visits completed outside of the VA be included in the Veteran’s VA medical record for review.
• EOD Veterans whose consults may benefit from additional services from a wider network of providers may be scheduled for in-person evaluations at our DC WRIISC Center in Washington, DC.
• Enrolled EOD Veterans also have the option to participate in DC WRIISC telehealth research focusing on analyzing cognitive, emotional, and physical functioning data (e.g., electroencephalogram [EEG], sleep quality, and daily level of physical activity) in Veterans with varying degrees of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and/or post-concussive syndrome.  Research at the DC WRIISC is ongoing and additional research opportunities may be available for Veterans. Data collected from EOD Veterans will be applied to studies focused on research serving the EOD community.  Research participation is completely voluntary and opting out of research will not affect the clinical care that Veterans receive at the DC WRIISC.

• Deployed EOD Veterans from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces living in the U.S. and its territories are eligible to participate. Veterans must be medically and psychiatrically stable to participate in these evaluations.  Medical records will be evaluated individually to determine that Veterans are medically safe to participate in these WRIISC evaluations. Veterans with acute health conditions may be deferred and reconsidered by the DC WRIISC for participation at a later time if their medical and/or psychiatric conditions stabilize. Veterans who participate in on-site WRIISC evaluations must have at least a 30% service-connected disability rating to qualify for VA travel reimbursement for travel and lodging.

• At this time, only EOD Veterans enrolled in the VA medical system are eligible to participate in this program.  Learn more about VA enrollment process, or call 877-222-8387, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

• Schedule an appointment with your VA Primary Care Provider (PCP) and request that they submit a consult to the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center. 
• Ask your VA PCP to specifically write about your interest in the DC WRIISC’s “EOD Program” in their consult.  
• All consults with this information will be reviewed for the program by our clinical team, usually within a month of receipt.  A response will be sent directly to the referring VA PCP and the Veteran after the consult is reviewed.

• Please visit the WRIISC website for more information.  Detailed information about the referral process (for Veterans and clinical staff) is available here. If you have remaining questions about this process, please contact DC WRIISC at (202) 745-8249.

• DC WRIISC is proud to partner with researchers at Uniformed Services University (USU) and Rochester Regional Health as well as nonprofit organizations including the EOD Warrior Foundation (EODWF) and the Navy Special Operations Foundation (NSOF) to highlight research opportunities and support services available for EOD Veterans.

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