Kirk & Burgess Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Improve Trauma Care with Military-Civilian Partnerships

Press Release

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today introduced the MISSION ZERO Act, S. 3407, to assist assigning Department of Defense (DoD) trauma surgeons to civilian trauma centers filling a gap in care recently examined by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. This legislation will address variations in care methods that exist, while also providing military surgeons with additional training. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) are original cosponsors of the legislation. Representatives Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Gene Green (D-Texas), and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) have introduced companion legislation in the House.

"This bill is common sense. By keeping our military personnel active and in training, we ensure military readiness while helping areas throughout the state that need it most, whether it is assisting Chicago area trauma centers during high crime peaks, or in rural areas where access to trauma response is limited. Partnerships between our civilian and military health networks should be generated to improve our trauma response network to improve health outcomes," said Senator Kirk.

Currently, trauma care in the United States is a patchwork of regional systems and incomplete data registries. Mortality and disability in traumatic injury can be greatly reduced through integrated, permanent joint civilian and military trauma system training platforms, in order to create and sustain an expert trauma workforce between periods of active combat.

The MISSION ZERO Act is endorsed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Trauma Care Association of America, American College of Emergency Physicians and American College of Surgeons.

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