Typically, there wouldn't be anybody who would go with that person, other than the medical team. Somebody leaving Kandahar would get on an American CCATT, critical care in the air. They would come and pick them up. Until 2010, we had the first liaison position in Bagram, but there was no Canadian with them until they arrived in Landstuhl.
As to decompression, depending on their injury sometimes they wouldn't even wake up in Bagram. I've been from point of injury all the way to Landstuhl and home. I've been fortunate enough to work throughout that continuum. I think in Bagram was the first time. Sometimes they would wake up and they'd think they were in Germany or they wouldn't know where they were. After my first tour in Bagram, the biggest thing was later I would get e-mails telling me that all they remember seeing was my maple leaf and they were so relieved to see my uniform. There was no real decompression.
TBI screening is done for anybody who's capable of answering questions and being assessed properly, that is, if they're not intubated or heavily medicated. Everybody who goes through Landstuhl has a traumatic brain injury screening done before they leave. When they arrive home, where they go depends on where their care needs to be given, according to what is the best medical care available in the area closest to where their family lives.