National Trauma Institute's Advocacy Yields $10 Million In Federal Research Funding To Study Non-compressible Hemorrhage
Requesting another $15 million in fiscal 2013 budget for same purpose
SAN ANTONIO, May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thanks to advocacy by the National Trauma Institute (NTI), Congress has appropriated $10 million to study the military's top medical research priority – non-compressible hemorrhage. NTI will request an additional $15 million in research funds before the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations on June 6.
"Through our efforts, the military and the medical community at large can study the optimal treatment for non-compressible hemorrhage," said NTI Executive Director Sharon Smith. "Non-compressible hemorrhage is the leading cause of potentially survivable deaths. We will continue to draw attention to this issue and hope to expand federal support for research."
Eighty-five percent of potentially survivable combat deaths are now caused by uncontrolled hemorrhage. Two-thirds of these hemorrhage-related deaths are non-compressible, where direct pressure or a tourniquet cannot be applied to stop the massive bleeding.
"Hemorrhage is the leading cause of potentially survivable death both on the battle field and at home. We need new tools, devices and techniques in the hands of medics and EMTs to save lives," Smith said. "Today, they're basically using the same devices and methods used during the Civil War."
NTI learned from the Institute of Surgical Research that non-compressible hemorrhage is the Army's top medical research priority. Then NTI staff and board members met with members of Congress and staff from the Senate and House appropriations committees about the historic lack of military research funds allocated for this area. U.S. representatives Lamar Smith, Charles Gonzalez, John Carter, Henry Cuellar and Lloyd Doggett supported NTI's efforts.
The initial $10 million is in the federal fiscal 2012 budget within the Defense Health Program Research and Development account.
National Trauma Institute, nationaltraumainstitute.org
The National Trauma Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, imagines a world in which a horrific car crash does not result in immediate death or a lifetime of disability, a gunshot wound can be repaired with minimal long-term damage and U.S. soldiers can survive blast injuries and go on to lead healthy and productive lives. NTI works to fill a gaping hole in the nation's research agenda by assembling funds from public and private sources and awards large-scale research grants to projects that promise to save lives.
Contact: Monica Phillips, [email protected], 210-884-3410
SOURCE National Trauma Institute
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