When disaster strikes—whether it's a devastating hurricane, a large-scale accident, or an attack on American soil—our nation’s trauma centers and caregivers are on the frontlines of response.
These specialized hospitals are not just places where individual lives are saved—they are strategic pillars of national preparedness and response. Equipped to handle the most severe injuries, trauma centers are critical hubs during both natural disasters and enemy attacks, making them indispensable to the safety and resilience of our homeland. Recognizing and strengthening this unique role is essential to ensuring that America can withstand and recover from any crisis.
Policymakers in Washington are rarely praised for what they get right, but the post-9/11 and post-Katrina overhaul of our national preparedness system was a rare example of good policy. In those years, Congress recognized glaring gaps in the federal response to large-scale emergencies—whether from natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.
Over the years, the government established critical programs such as the National Disaster Medical System, the Strategic National Stockpile, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). These institutions, while highly specialized, are essential to saving lives when local and state resources are overwhelmed.
In times of war, trauma centers play a pivotal role in saving the lives of those wounded on the front lines—not just overseas, but here at home. Programs like MISSION ZERO exemplify the vital partnership between military and civilian trauma systems. Through this initiative, military healthcare providers sharpen their skills in real-world trauma settings, while civilian teams and patients within these communities benefit from battlefield-tested best practices. This collaboration ensures military medical personnel remain at peak readiness, even before deployment.
In any nightmare scenario, trauma centers perform a role that no other institution can fulfill. They are equipped with advanced medical resources and expert teams trained to treat the most severe injuries. During mass casualty events, trauma centers are at the core of a rapid, life-saving response. Working closely with emergency medical services, they ensure fast triage and treatment when every second counts.
But their value extends beyond emergency response. Trauma centers are also central to disaster preparedness. They train continuously, participate in large-scale drills, and coordinate with public health and emergency management agencies. They maintain surge capacity for sudden influxes of patients, serve as communication hubs during crises, and use data collection and research to improve future outcomes. Investing in trauma centers doesn’t just help in emergencies—it makes our communities stronger and more resilient every day.
However, trauma centers cannot fulfill this mission alone. They depend on a robust federal preparedness and response framework—a system that coordinates the stockpiling of life-saving countermeasures, deploys rapid-response teams, and ensures seamless communication and logistics during a crisis. As policymakers scrutinize the organizational structure of every part of the federal government, we urge them to preserve the strong preparedness foundation that past Congresses and Administrations have built—and to continue strengthening it.
Let’s not wait for the next crisis to remember how much we depend on trauma centers. Their role in protecting and defending our national security is clear.
Jennifer Ward is president of the Trauma Center Association of America (TCAA), and Dr. Kevin Croston is the former CEO of Minnesota’s North Memorial Health and the current Chair of the TCAA Board of Directors.
