Military Injury Surgical Systems Integrated Operationally Nationwide to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the MISSION ZERO Act, H.R. 880, and I would like to thank Chairman Burgess, Ranking Member Gene Green from Texas, and Mr. Hudson from North Carolina for sponsoring this legislation with me.

The MISSION ZERO Act will assist the Department of Defense in assigning trauma surgeons to our civilian trauma centers. It will help fill the gap that we currently have in care recently examined by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The MISSION ZERO Act will establish grant initiatives for eligible trauma systems to incorporate full military trauma teams or individual military trauma providers into our hospitals--the ones that have busy emergency rooms.

This mutually beneficial partnership will allow civilian doctors and nurses and care providers the chance to learn more about military best practices and will give our military trauma care providers the opportunity to utilize their cutting-edge expertise without leaving the military.

I have seen this initiative in action already back home in Tampa at Tampa General Hospital, located just a few miles down the road from MacDill Air Force Base, which is home to U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the 6th Air Mobility Wing, which is also home to the 6th Air Medical Group.

Since about 2011, they have had an ongoing partnership to do just what this bill provides: create a lot of energy and shared expertise in the civilian trauma center at Tampa General Hospital and bring in the military specialists so they can continue to hone their caregiving and craft. They use nurses, surgeons, and all sorts of specialists.

The initiative allows military and civilian medical teams to work in the most intense trauma environments--that is, our level one trauma center--and take very good care of folks all across central Florida. These partnerships are vital for continued training for our community and our military.

I think Dr. Burgess and Mr. Gene Green from Texas are doing a great service by replicating this in other trauma centers across the United States.

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

Again, I thank Dr. Burgess, Ranking Member Gene Green from Texas, Mr. Hudson, and all my Energy and Commerce colleagues, and I urge everyone here in the House to support this important bill.

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