Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., and Congressman Gene Greene’s trauma funding reauthorization bills were passed today in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 647, the Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act, and H.R. 648, the Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorizations Act, passed with strong bipartisan support.

The measures will reauthorize critical trauma and emergency preparedness grants, address shortfalls in trauma services, and work to avert further trauma center closures. Trauma can happen at any time and to anyone. It centers and systems must be available for all victims of traumatic injury. Getting a trauma victim to appropriate medical care right away is the first step in saving their life.

“We must strive for trauma patients to be treated within the “golden hour” – the crucial minutes following an accident,” Burgess said. “It is unacceptable that tens of millions of Americans and their families lack access to trauma centers in that time frame. But today, the House took an important step in providing adequate, and fully developed, service to those patients who need urgent care when the unthinkable happens.”

“Traumatic injury is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 44, and unfortunately, our current trauma care system remains inconsistent nationwide,” Green said. “Forty-five million people still lack access to trauma care during the “golden hour” after injury occurs when their life could depend on it. These critical funds support the development of these life-saving programs so that so that all Americans can have access to trauma care when they need it.”

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