Military-civilian partnership creates first fully integrated trauma system

Editor's Note

The American College of Surgeons on May 23 announced that a partnership between the Military Health System and civilian trauma institutions is underway to create the first fully integrated military-civilian trauma system. The system will train military surgeons before deployment, help surgeons retain skills while deployed, and bring lessons from the battlefield home to enhance civilian trauma care.

Learning from established trauma training platforms, the next step is to develop a blueprint of standards for each center including performance measures that will help the Military Health System select and evaluate trauma centers to partner with.

The idea is to expand these partnerships around the country and in proximity to military bases so that people won’t have to move to receive training.