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Posts Tagged ‘VIPER’

NBC interviews SOTech for GTRI Traumatic Brain Injury Sensor Harness

Friday, November 9th, 2012

With Veteran’s Day just around the corner we thought that telling you about this was a pretty good topic. Many of our Vets are Wounded Warriors and oftentimes, they have suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries. SOTech recently shared this with this story about VIPER program Veterans sewing sensor harnesses for Georgia Tech Research Institute that records the TBI effects of IED blasts on Soldiers.

Veteran Patients Tasked with Assembly of Traumatic Brain Injury Sensor Harness for Deploying Troops

As part of a work therapy program, US Veteran patients are finding themselves manufacturing equipment that will help treat future and fellow veterans for TBI, a major medical challenge facing the military and veteran medical establishment. The US Army Rapid Equipping Force (REF) contacted the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI requesting that they develop a system that would record the effects of an IED blast wave for future treatment. As a critical part of this effort, GTRI developed a soldier-worn harness to house an array of sensors and an embedded computer. GTRI contracted the sewing of the harness to S.O.Tech / Special Operations Technologies Inc which includes Veterans recruited from a local VA Hospital to do sewing and assembly work. The Veterans are part of the Veterans Industry Program for Employment Reintegration (V.I.P.E.R.) and its sub-brand Green Vets LA. S.O.TECH President, James Cragg, founded the charity program to not only give job training to Vets but to give them inspiration and the self-confidence to rejoin the work force. Cragg stated, “Many veterans experience a sensation of abandonment by society after discharge. We want to build them up by giving them projects that make them feel like they are back on the team and serving the community. Assembling a device that will go downrange with soldiers to potentially save a life or treat an injury is as positive as it gets.” Veterans in the program are from current conflicts ranging to the Vietnam era. Many have dealt with mental and physical challenges, along with addiction issues, joblessness and homelessness.

The soldier-worn sensor system is a harness integrating a computer and five sensors. The sensors capture data measuring the direction and impact of a blast wave traveling across the body. Data collected by the sensors and recorded in the computer can be downloaded for later analysis, and one day potentially lead to immediate treatment data. Further, that data can be archived for treatment of long lasting effects decades later through Veterans Administration medical programs. But on a larger scale, that data can be analyzed by medical researchers to develop new treatments for TBI as well as possible preventative devices such as armor. Beyond the battlefield environment, data can be applied to sporting injuries, such as youth football impacts and to car accidents. We are honored that GTRI chose S.O.TECH to design and sew the harnesses that house these sensors.

Over the past 11 years the number of IED attacks has risen during the war on terror. According to the Washington Post, 64% of U.S deaths in Iraq occurred due to IEDs. Survivors of IED’s can suffer from Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) which can lead to a number of problems, both immediate and long term. TBI is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, especially in children and young adults, much like our soldiers.

S.O.TECH & the Veterans of the V.I.P.E.R. program are proud to be a small part of this ground breaking research and to help soldiers in need.

Visit www.nbclosangeles.com for additional coverage.

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SOTech Mourns the Loss of Darrell Rolen

Saturday, September 15th, 2012

The SOTECH and VIPER / Veterans Industry Program for Employment Reintegration family mourn the tragic and sudden loss of one of their leaders and greatest inspirations, Darrell Rolen. After experiencing severe PTSD from surviving two shipboard fires, Darrell lived 20 years homeless on the streets of Los Angeles, including 5 years living under a bridge next to the Good Year blimp park and near the SOTech plant. While in treatment at the WLA VA hospital, Darrell joined the VIPER program while transitioning from the domiciliary to supported housing and finally showing his strength and vision Darrel achieved his own apartment and car. Not only did Darrell power through his own issues, but he led his fellow vets in the program and inspired them with his tremendous heart. Drawing from his leadership experience as a Navy Boatswain’s Mate, Darrel organized his team to contact California legislators to urge support for the single use plastic bag ban. Darrel was supremely honored to be one of three VIPER vets featured in a recent Los Angeles Times article. In tragic irony, Darrel was quoted in the article saying that his greatest fear while living under the bridge was dying unknown on the street. Darrel’s story was told – first in the Times, and then it was reprinted in Star and Stripes to his brothers. In his last week, Darrel’s face carried a glow of pride. VIPER’s director, Jim Cragg coordinated with Good Year who generously offered to fly Darrell and his team in the blimp above the area where he had lived on the street. On Friday of that week, Darrell proudly presented Jim a report on the legislative phone calls his team had completed when Jim told him of Good Year’s promise. Darrel couldn’t have been prouder, commenting on the wonder of having lived on that street and the chance to fly over it in the blimp. Not having a watch, Darrell said he had marked the beginning and end of his days by watching the blimp take off and later be secured. According to his team mates, Darrell with his new found self esteem intended to confront his abusive girlfriend. At some point between his conversation with Mr. Cragg and 2:45AM, Darrell Rolen was stabbed in the heart and his girlfriend was arrested on the scene by the LA County Sheriff’s Department. In a final testament to the great things that this once homeless man had done, Darrell spent his last month working at SOTECH assembling thousands of IED sensor harnesses that will measure the blast wave affects that cause Traumatic Brain Injury. These harnesses will not only help the thousands of soldiers going downrange wearing them, but the metrics analyzed from these devices will hopefully help treat the thousands of veterans out there who suffered from TBI from the last decade of war. Darrell will be buried in uniform this Saturday, contact SOTECH for details.

www.sotechtactical.com

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SOTech Shines Light on Benefits of Employing Veterans

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

Green Vets LA / VIPER Program makes the front page of the Los Angeles Times as the vote goes to Sacramento. The Green Vets LA Element of VIPER (Veterans Industry Program for Employment Reintegration) has found itself bridging the right and the left wings of California politics. Jim Cragg and SOTech staff members supporting GVLA have made the rounds of California Senate and Assembly offices to illuminate the veterans issues, job creation, and economic impact of the proposed single use plastic bag ban in California. Previously the ban was seen only as an environmental issue until Cragg raised the banner of jobs for vets.

Having experienced firsthand the protection of American sewing jobs under the Berry Act in Defense Contracting, Cragg brought to light the benefits of legislation that protects and encourages American design and manufacturing. Not only do veterans of the GVLA program benefit from sewing and assembly jobs created here, but the American sewing industry as a whole will see gains, and this comes at an important time as Defense sewing projects begin to dwindle with an end to American troop deployments on the horizon. Beyond the political and industrial implications of the issue, the LA Times article captured the human side of the issue with some gut-wrenching interviews of formerly homeless Veterans in the VIPER program.

Read the LA Times article here.

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VIPER Gets Political Fighting for Veteran’s Jobs

Monday, May 28th, 2012

We’ve mentioned VIPER before. The Veterans Industry Program for Employment Reintegration is a charity sponsored by S.O.Tech and it found itself center stage this last week at Los Angeles’ City Hall. LA was voting to become the largest city in the US to ban single use plastic bags. This is a move which was vehemently opposed by plastics industry lobbyists. One of their main counter arguments was that American plastics jobs would be lost. Interestingly, VIPER’s Vets were called to the microphone to talk about the jobs that have already been gained in their sewing program, Green Vets Los Angeles. GVLA is a program of the VIPER non-profit set up to sew reusable cloth shopping bags. Most of the work is accomplished at their facility right in the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Hospital. VIPER Founder Jim Cragg said the program was originally set up for Vets to sew and assemble medical kits for troops going into harm’s way as a tool to help them feel that they were once again serving society, and that working on bags to save the environment was a logical move to help the vets continue to serve their community while rejoining the work force. The bags are assembled from recycled materials and have been a big hit across the LA area. In an environment that many would call liberal, Veterans have found a way to go back to work and make a difference by working in harmony with the local economy. Good on Green Vets LA and VIPER.

www.greenvetsla.org www.specopstech.com

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