By Lt. Col. Ann Peru Knabe, US Air Force

Fifteen CIOMR officers traveled to the Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center and Care Center in Ankara to see how Turkey is caring for its wounded warriors. Most of the patients were victims of landmines.

“The trip was well-organized,” said Col. David Johnson, a dentist with the U.S. Air Force Reserve. “From what we saw, they offer amazing care to landmine victims.”
Dr. Johnson said it was evident the Turks completed a lot of research before building the rehabilitation center, using benchmarks from Israel, Germany and the United States.

“I was also impressed how they included families in the rehabilitation process,” said Dr. Johnson. “The facility had special rooms for families, so they could spend time with their injured family members as they healed.”

Photo outline: Capt. Isabelle Mousseau, Canadian Forces Health Services Group, plays wheelchair basketball with a patient at the TAF Rehabilitation and Care Center. CIOMR officers toured the facility during the summer congress in Istanbul.

TAF Rehabilitation and Care Center is a unique facility in the region and established by voluntary contributions from the general public.
“Whether they are poor or rich, everyone contributed to the construction and equipping of this facility,” said officials.
CIOMR guests toured the facility, met with veterans and reviewed their rehabilitation strategy.

“One of the interesting rehabilitation tools is sports,” said Capt. Isabelle Mousseau, Canadian Forces Health Services Group. “It’s amazing how these injured patients challenge themselves physically through sports like wheelchair basketball.”
Captain Mousseau decided to take the challenge herself, and sat in a wheelchair to compete in a short round of basketball with a former patient, now employed as a physical trainer in the center. “It takes a lot of upper body strength to control the ball and maneuver the chair at the same time but it was a lot of fun! What a great experience!”

The vision of TAF Rehabilitation and Care Center is to assist patients who suffer from disability in their effort to overcome the physical and psychological difficulties caused by their condition in their social life individually or with their families, facilitating their development so that they may resume their life as independent and self-confident individuals.

The center is designed to ensure coherence in the medical practices and general care services that are complementary to preventative and therapeutic services in order to improve the health conditions of Turkish Armed Forces members and their families, including the retired.

The rehabilitation center is viewed as a pioneer and exemplary institution that sets the standard in medical rehabilitation with state-of- the-art innovation, scientific equipment and high quality staff.