THE MARINES CORNER

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VA crisis line failure leaves local vet teetering on the brink, gun in hand
BY TRACY VEDDER THURSDAY, MAY 5TH 2016
Jim Cusumano




OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Every single day in this country, 22 veterans commit suicide. The KOMO Investigators discovered that despite an overhaul, the National Veterans' Crisis Line is still failing some veterans. And those continuing problems led one local vet teetering on the brink; gun in hand.

We spent an afternoon recently with Jim Cusumano as he paged through a photo album he keeps of his two tours in Vietnam. He was in the Marine Corps and returned from the war in 1967.

"There's one of me."

Cusuman's memories are as sharp as yesterday. Harsh memories.

"Actually these three girls got killed about two weeks after I took this photograph," he says.

He recalls they were shot trying to smuggle explosives through the barb wire surrounding the military post: "So they shot 'em in place in the satchels and blew 'em up."

They're harsh memories that he recalls with the nonchalance of a man who will tell you - he's seen a lot of bodies.

"They shot this guy right afterwards for trying to steal the garbage," he said.

Despite the nonchalance, Vietnam left indelible marks on Jim's soul.

"I have trouble because I have nightmares about being in country," he said. "I only have one mode and it's survive, and unfortunately it can be scary at times."

Cusumano, with his wife Barbara's help, has learned to navigate civilian life, avoiding triggers like busy malls and the smell of beer. But at 69, Jim's health has deteriorated. His PTSD is now exacerbated by the constant pain of a collapsed disc, and pinched sciatic nerves in both legs.

Barbara pats Jim's hand as she tells us, "I know what he's been going through - so much stress."

And then Jim developed a huge and painful hernia. And after a year of seeking, and failing to find treatment, "I just finally had cracked."

Jim describes the pain like a flame held under his hand with no letup. Then, two months ago Jim was home alone and hit rock bottom.

"It got to the point where I just couldn't take any more of the pain, I just wanted to stop it."

Jim called friend and fellow vet Lance Axtell.

Axtell: "I was really concerned. I thought that he was going to cause himself and others harm."

Jim: "I was loading up a couple of clips."

Axtell: "I told him to wait, just stop, relax, I'd be over!"

That's when fear morphed into frustration. Axtell called the National Veteran's Crisis Line for help. https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ The voice that answers directs the caller to press one if they are a veteran. But Axtell says when he pressed one, "the phone would go dead." Axtell says he dialed the number again, and again, and again. "I called them up probably five times and every time that I called them up - they would disconnect."

Crisis Line Already Had Known Issues
The Veteran's Crisis Line was already under fire following an Inspector General's report (http://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-14-03540-123.pdf) that found some crisis callers were put on hold or directed to backup crisis centers and then sent to voicemail. When we asked them about Lance Axtell's hang up calls, they couldn't say why he'd been disconnected. But the Acting Director of Veterans' Health Member Services Matt Eitutis went on to tell us that they are adding another 70 call takers and have implemented a robust training program.

"I am very frustrated that this continues to occur," says Washington's senior Senator Patty Murray.

Murray has seen the OIG report and says she will go after the VA to get this fixed. But she also acknowledges they've heard a lot of promises from the VA and the complaints still keep coming in.

"We have to continue to be aggressive and that's what I'm doing and will continue to do to make sure that the VA doesn't just tell me something in words but follows it up in actions," Murray said.

Back with Lance Axtell in February, out of frustration he finally called the Regional VA Hospital - and says he was transferred to a non-attended line that told him to leave a message.

"That's unacceptable," Axtell said.

At Puget Sound Veterans Health, Dr's. David Ruskin and Greg Reger agree. And they don't know why Axtell didn't get help.

"Our process is set up so that everyone who calls will speak to a qualified responder," says Reger. "The idea that a veteran could call and that not happen is unacceptable."

Reger says every employee goes through what's called "gatekeeper training" so that even a clerk or a maintenance worker who comes across a suicidal vet in crisis is supposed to stay with them - in person or on the phone - until a counselor is in touch.

But both acknowledge Axtell's experience shows there are still problems.

"So if there's anything going on in our system that loses veterans, that makes it hard for them, then we're not doing our job and that means we've got to start doing our job better," Dr. Ruskin said.

Pushed to the Breaking Point
Axtell gave up on the VA entirely and just rushed to Jim's house.

"He came over because he knew," says Jim. "He could tell I was in real bad trouble."

And when Axtell walked into Jim's home, they found him sitting on a couch downstairs. "Me and his son removed a firearm from him," Axtell said.

Jim adds his friend, "picked the gun up and went upstairs and put it away somewhere up there."

The police arrived and took Jim to Evergreen Hospital, and contacted Barbara who'd been out with their daughter.

"It was difficult to see my husband being tied down, I mean they literally had him locked with a key... and then he started to cry," she said.

It was another harsh memory for the Cusumanos.

Today, Jim's hernia has been surgically repaired; his outlook on life is much brighter. He has no good words for the VA - but does have a message for other vets in crisis: "Stop. Think about your family. Hang on, it will go away, it will get a little bit better."

As for the VA? The Puget Sound VA Mental Health doctors stressed that in spite of any problems with the national crisis line, or even locally, they encourage veterans to continue calling if they need help. They promise to keep working to improve their systems.

Again, the National Suicide Crisis Line is 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.