By Marique Newell

These days, you can hardly open a newspaper, turn on the television or flip through the pages of a magazine without stumbling across a story, article or TV show about amputees.

And the stars of these stories range from teen-age sports sensations to war heroes.

Chad Crittendon gained national recognition and media attention from his successful stint on last year's CBS hit show, "Survivor: Vanuatu."

Bethany Hamilton, the young woman who lost her arm in a shark attack off the coast of California last year, stole the media spotlight when she returned to competitive surfing within months of the accident.

Army Maj. L. Tammy Duckworth, an amputee veteran of the Iraq war, amassed a loyal following in her recent run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

And Dawn Halfaker, an upper-limb amputee, attracted the coveted attention of Sports Illustrated when she successfully raced in the Army Ten-Miler in 2005.

And those are just highlights.

Gaining good press

No doubt about it, in the last few years the O&P industry has seen a significant spike in media attention as a result of the Iraq war and the alarming increase in diabetes-related amputations.

Popular nationally circulated magazines and television programs have covered dozens of amputee war veterans' efforts to return to active duty and active lifestyles and featured the highly advanced prosthetic and orthotic devices enabling them to do so.

"We have 1.2 million amputees in the U.S., but if you had asked someone three years ago if they knew anyone with limb loss, most people would have said no," stated Charles Scoville, the program manager for the U.S. Army Amputee Patient Care Program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "The media has created visibility and given a face and an image [to O&P] that may not have been quite so obvious to the general population."

And as most public relations gurus will tell you, any press is good press.

"Every story that publicizes the work that O&P professionals do helps the O&P field," said Walter Gorski, AOPA's director of legislative and regulatory affairs.

Right now, the attention the O&P field is receiving has the potential to promote interest in and support of O&P research, increase reimbursements and resonate loudly in the long, crowded corridors of Congress.

Get the stats straight

Despite the increasingly public opposition to the Iraq war, Walter Reed's amputee center has received only good press.

"Early on, some of the media was coming in looking for negative stories," explained Scoville, who's worked at Walter Reed since August 2003. "But, they'd come and see the guys running around and having fun, and then they'd want to tell those stories.

"There is a perception that there are thousands of guys who have lost limbs [in Iraq], but it's not the thousands that some have tried to report," he continued.

According to Scoville, of nearly 17,000 wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, 384—or 2.3 percent—are amputees, with 16 percent sustaining multiple limb loss. Ten of the 384 are female.

Scoville explained this percentage is lower than during the Vietnam War, where 3.4 percent of all battle injuries resulted in limb loss, with 20 percent sustaining multiple limb loss. In World War II, 1.2 percent of battle injuries resulted in amputation. "When you see someone with limb loss, you have an immediate response or connection to that individual," Scoville remarked. "The newspapers saw that, and they started coming [to Walter Reed] to cover the stories."

Who's making news

The stories the newspapers and national media have reported are inspirational and eye-opening—amputee soldiers re-enlisting, running marathons and returning to active duty, once and for all dethroning the misperception that limb loss inevitably leads to inactivity.

"Stories about amputees are typically great stories showing how a person has suffered a disease or a traumatic injury and is regaining his or her previous lifestyle," Gorski remarked. Many popular publications, including the major newspapers and Sports Illustrated, People magazine, Newsweek, Time and U.S. News & World Report, were eager to tell the stories of what happened to these men and women as they left Walter Reed.

In September 2004, the New York Times covered Sgt. Chuck Bartles' successful efforts to re-enlist after losing his right arm. The article noted that amputees are usually medically discharged from the Army immediately, no questions asked.

The O&P Almanac told U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Andrew Lourake's story when he became the Air Force's first above-the-knee amputee pilot. Lourake made national headlines when he was permitted to return to the cockpit as the pilot of Air Force Two. His story also brought attention to Otto Bock's C-Leg and the functionality of a microprocessor prosthesis.

"In providing these men and women with appropriate technologies, we're returning them as contributors to society," added Scoville.

Like Lourake, veteran Maj. L. Tammy Duckworth still wanted to serve her country after becoming an above- and below-knee amputee in Iraq. Recently, she's garnered major national attention in her pursuit of the U.S. House of Representatives' sixth congressional district seat in Illinois, announcing her candidacy just days after leaving Walter Reed in mid-December 2005.

While many wounded soldiers show strong desires to return to their units, other veterans decide to pursue other goals. Army Specialist Danielle Green, a former basketball star at Notre Dame, lost her left arm in Iraq and, in interviews with CNN and the New York Times, has expressed her desire to compete in the 2008 Paralympics.

On the air

Print media is just one medium for these stories. Several well-known television outlets—"60 Minutes," "Extreme Makeover" and cable channels such as CNN and MSNBC—are also paying due attention.

Sarah Reinertsen, a well-known triathlete and amputee spokeswoman who graced the cover of the November 2005 Runner's World, was interviewed on "60 Minutes" with Amputee Coalition of America's President and CEO Paddy Rossbach. Reinertsen attracted interest when she became the first female amputee to complete the grueling Ironman Triathlon World Championship last October.

Sgt. Luis Rodriguez, who returned from Iraq as a lower-limb amputee, was featured on ABC's show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," last summer. Hundreds of thousands of viewers watched as more than 60 Clarksville, Tenn., associates worked hard to construct a new, amputee-accessible house for Rodriguez and his family.

And, most recently, the Discovery Health Channel debuted a series titled, "Rebuilt: The Human Body Shop," set to run until March 20. The show followed several amputees as they received treatment at the Orthotic Prosthetic Center in Fairfax, Va., and highlighted the challenges and triumphs amputees experience in achieving an active lifestyle.

Even the 2005 AOPA National Assembly in Las Vegas received media attention when two local television news stations shot footage of the show floor and spoke with attendees.

"It's important to keep in mind that the knowledge level about amputees, and by extension O&P, is very limited," Gorski remarked. "Any work that's done to highlight O&P has a clear benefit, not only to the practitioners and their facilities, but also to the field as a whole."

Promote your role

Gorski added how important it is that the media also recognize the value of the prosthetist or orthotist as a key member of the amputee's rehabilitation team.

"It's difficult to judge whether we're being fully recognized in the press for the work we're doing," he said. "If an article dealing with amputees focuses on physical therapists and fails to recognize the work of the prosthetist/orthotist, AOPA makes an effort to contact the media to indicate we are an important part of the rehab team.

"The goal is for the press to recognize the work prosthetists and orthotists do for their patients," Gorski explained.

O&P professionals around the country can contact their local media to increase recognition of the practitioner's role with stories about their own business, patients and facility events. The local media is always looking for good stories, but might not necessarily know where to find them in relation to O&P.

"The first step is to call the newspapers' editors, and tell him or her you have an idea for a great story," Gorski explained. "Be persistent. You may not have success the first time out. But ultimately, you're likely to succeed and bring attention to your work, the work of your facility and the patients who have overcome significant challenges."

If your local papers write a story about you, your patients or your facility, Gorski recommends sending the news or magazine clipping to your local congressmen and senators at their district offices.

"No one can publicize the field as effectively as the individual practitioners who are passionate about what they do," said Gorski.

Also, nearly a dozen Iraq war veterans are running for office in upcoming federal elections. If Congress isn't already well aware of O&P, it will be if those candidates are elected to office.

Research and reimbursement

Gorski and Scoville both noted that the recent attention the O&P profession has received in the last few years could prove extremely positive for O&P research, reimbursements and support in Washington, D.C.

"In truth, 384 individuals with limb loss is a relatively small number," Scoville said, referring to Iraq casualties. "And all things considered, I'd like that number to be three. But, fortunately, out of each war comes tremendous advances that help the entire medical community."

Scoville cited several research studies taking place at both Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and stressed the need for evidence-based outcomes for reimbursement and for the continued advancement of O&P technology.

"We still need good, hard scientific data which can be used by the O&P community to drive the availability of prosthetic devices for others," he explained. "If you can increase that data, you can go to insurance companies and show them scientific research that supports the value of a prosthesis."

The media, in the hundreds of stories it's produced about amputees, has also realized the value of O&P devices and research in making good news stories.

In 2004, Body1.com, an online health network, devoted a significant portion of its coverage to explaining the process of fitting and fabricating a prosthetic device and its capabilities as part of a story on Army Staff Sgt. Maurice Craft.

In a November 2005 article in BioMechanics, extensive coverage was given to Walter Reed's efforts to establish solid O&P research and outcomes-based evidence that will support reimbursement for new, high-tech O&P devices.

"We're doing revolutionary things in health care and research studies," Scoville stated. "We get more requests [at Walter Reed] for media access than we have the capability to meet."

Opportunities abound

And it's unlikely that number of requests will dwindle any time soon. Amputees from the Iraq war continue to fill the halls of Walter Reed and will for the foreseeable future. The number of individuals with diabetes also continues to soar, with 6.2 million people unaware they even have the disease.

Many O&P organizations—including the Amputee Coalition of America, the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Disabled Sports/USA—continue to send representatives to Walter Reed to provide support, encouragement and education on athletic and recreational possibilities for amputees. As a result, amputees will continue to play an active, engaged role in society.

Now is the time for O&P professionals to help clear the media's lens, sharpen the focus and advocate for their patients and their line of work. Marique Newell is the associate editor for the O&P Almanac.