- The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chair
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Richard Shelby
Ranking Member
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Patty Murray
Chair
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Roy Blunt
Ranking Member
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairs Leahy and Murray and Ranking Members Shelby and Blunt:
We are contacting you today to respectfully request that the Subcommittee include $11.5 million in funding for the Military and Civilian Partnership for the Trauma Readiness Grant program in the FY22 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill. As you know, this program was established by the Military Injury Surgical Systems Integrated Operationally Nationwide to Achieve ZERO Preventable Deaths Act or “MISSION ZERO Act,” which was authorized by the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019. These grants provide funding to ensure trauma care readiness by integrating military trauma care providers into civilian trauma centers. By fully funding this critical program, we will improve the nation’s response to public health and medical emergencies and mitigate some of the worst impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic on trauma centers, including but not limited to staffing shortages.
The MISSION ZERO Act stems from the June 2016 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report entitled, “A National Trauma Care System: Integrating Military and Civilian Trauma Systems to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths After Injury.” This report outlines 11 recommendations necessary to secure a national trauma system and sets the goal of achieving zero preventable deaths. Recommendation number 11 of the NASEM report calls for the establishment of military-civilian trauma partnerships to help further reduce the number of preventable traumatic deaths.
Click here to read the full Neurosurgery Joins Trauma Coalition in Urging Funding for MISSION ZERO Program.
