National Defence committee  I believe that every base, every OTSSC base, has people trained in doing EMDR. They certainly do in Edmonton. I know they do in Halifax.

National Defence committee  No, I can't give you numbers, but I can tell you that some patients reject it as a possibility right out of hand, just like some reject the possibility of trying a medication to reduce their symptoms. There are some people right from the start who aren't interested. Using Dr. Brunet's analogy, you have to have a number of tools in the tool box, and that's one of them.

National Defence committee  The American military made efforts to recruit people who would be less likely to drop out from combat stress. There's probably an equivalent there: combat stress, then stress reaction, and later, PTSD. Toward the end of the war, they were screening out up to 70% of their recruits, saying, no, you're too high a risk.

National Defence committee  No, there aren't laboratory simulations, but there is basic training and ongoing training. Before a person ever gets to the point of being deployed on a mission, they have gone through their basic training, they have gone through the mission training, they have gone through their trades training.

National Defence committee  Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing was developed by Francine Shapiro. She observed in her treatment of people who were dealing with traumatic memories that they would have saccadic eye movements. There were other observations she made that made her wonder whether, if she duplicated these for her patients while working with them on their trauma memories, they might be helped with their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

National Defence committee  Yes, I have training in EMDR, and for select patients that is a very good approach. It's not for everybody, just as medications aren't for everybody. I haven't seen that meta-analysis looking at SSRIs in treatment of depression, but I would say it's in treatment of depression in moderate and mild cases, not severe.

National Defence committee  First of all, I'm not an expert on decompression, but I do know that it is decompression. It's not assessment and it's not treatment. It's a chance for a person who's been in desert...some place austere or a combat environment to shift gears to come back to Canada. And historically the roots of this go back to World War II.

National Defence committee  Yes, it's isolated, and that's a good thing, because it's an embarrassment, and I wouldn't want it to affect this opportunity, which is very well received by the troops. I wouldn't want to see this taken away from them.

National Defence committee  I'm really glad you asked that question, because in my reading of history, back in World War II the American military—

National Defence committee  If I had the letter in front of me, I could suggest an approach for you, but I don't think you really want me to respond to—

National Defence committee  Some things stand out: that this government doesn't care, and that nobody's doing anything. I think this committee's hearing is evidence that it is. I guess part of the next step, before sending the letter back, would be to get more facts. For example...you see, I'm coming at you from a physician's point of view.

National Defence committee  The way the process works now is that the person presents, as this lady's fiancé did, for help. He is seen in the clinic and assessed and then offered treatment. I don't want to give the impression that a person is seen, assessed, and released. That isn't what happens. They're afforded a course of treatment, but because the military requires a person to be deployable, the expectation is that with treatment they're going to return to health within a period of time.

National Defence committee  I think it's light years ahead. There's been a huge change, and not just in the last year or two either. It's been ongoing since 1997.

National Defence committee  I suppose, yes.

National Defence committee  It goes with the adage that you can't please all the people all the time. I think so.