Wounded Warrior Project and Amputee Coalition of America Work Together to Train and Certify Military Amputee Peer Visitors

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Jan 05, 2010, 04:28 ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and the Amputee Coalition of America are expanding the Military Amputee Peer Visitor Program by conducting a train-the-trainer and peer mentor training seminar at the Wounded Warrior Project's headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, this week. As many as 18 wounded warriors will attend the training seminar to become certified peer mentors.

Organized by the Amputee Coalition of America, the peer mentor seminar will be conducted by three members of the Wounded Warrior Project who have participated in a two-day train-the-trainer seminar conducted by Amputee Coalition of America staff.

"We realize that often the most positive influence on the initial recovery of a seriously injured service member is the friendship and understanding of a fellow wounded warrior," said Jim Mayer, director of peer mentoring and training for Wounded Warrior Project.

The Amputee Coalition pioneered the concept and standardized the training and certification of amputee peer visitors in 2001. The military peer visitor protocol was initially developed through the Amputee Coalition's work with Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and was later expanded to provide support for armed services members with traumatic brain injury (TBI), polytrauma and other injuries. To date, the Amputee Coalition has certified more than 200 military amputee peer visitors.

"In 2008, Wounded Warrior Project and the Amputee Coalition of America adapted the Amputee Coalition's training to incorporate a much-needed mentoring component for injured warriors, to encompass all injuries, including post traumatic stress syndrome," said Pat Isenberg, certified master trainer and chief operating officer of the Amputee Coalition, who will lead the training in Jacksonville.

Wounded Warrior Project's peer mentor program began utilizing the Amputee Coalition's newly developed curricula in August 2008 to train the first 25 Wounded Warrior Project peer mentors. In November 2008, the Amputee Coalition certified seven WWP staff members as peer mentor trainers.

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an apolitical, nonprofit organization whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors. WWP provides programs and services to assist injured veterans during their recovery, rehabilitation and transition. Whether through combat stress programs, career counseling or advocacy initiatives, Wounded Warrior Project's vision is to help make this generation of wounded warriors the most successful and well-adjusted in our nation's history.

For more information about the Wounded Warrior Project, call 877 TEAM WWP (832-6997) or visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org. For more information about the Amputee Coalition, call toll-free 888/267-5669 or go to www.amputee-coalition.org.

About the Amputee Coalition of America

The Amputee Coalition, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is "to reach out to and empower people affected by limb loss to achieve their full potential through education, support and advocacy, and to promote limb loss prevention." For more information about limb loss, please visit the Amputee Coalition Web site at www.amputee-coalition.org or call 888/267-5669.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project