Just last month, a 14-year-old boy tragically died in an e-bike accident after being hit by a car in Somers Point, NJ. Several tragic accidents in North Jersey have led to hospitalizations. A study also found that the age group most commonly affected by e-bike injuries, more than 44%, was between the ages of ten and thirteen years old. Across the country, e-bike injuries surged 293% from 2019 to 2022. 

Gottheimer unveiled his E-Bike Safety Plan, which includes new legislation to increase federal investments for states to create e-bike safety plans and increase public awareness around safe riding practices.

Video of the press conference can be found here.

“E-bikes are everywhere, it’s a fast-growing trend. While fun and efficient, without the right safety precautions, e-bikes can be dangerous. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s becoming increasingly common. These aren’t just statistics. They are children, friends, and family members. We must ensure families get the best possible education and resources they need to stay informed and protect themselves when using e-bikes,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a member of the Children’s Safety Caucus. “When it comes to preventing our children from serious crashes, we need to pull out all the stops and put real safeguards in place. By further raising awareness, I’m hoping that we can prevent the next e-bike crash before it happens. The stakes are too high to let partisan politics stop us from protecting our kids.”

Interested members of your organization can sign up to attend this session and all future sessions by registering here.

We also encourage you and interested members of your organization to sign up to receive emails directly from Project ECHO by selecting this link. This will ensure you receive reminders about future Clinical Readiness Rounds sessions and topics – which will be especially important to ensure you do not miss any announcements on real-time emergency sessions.

Respectfully,

HHS/ASPR Project ECHO Clinical Readiness Rounds Team

This week, CMS announced a data request for information (RFI) in an effort to increase Medicare Advantage (MA) transparency and the Senate Finance Committee released a plan to prevent and mitigate generic drug shortages.

...read more...

World’s First Professional Credential for Burn Care Nurses On Track for Summer 2023 Launch

OAK BROOK, IL (November 2, 2022) – In a major milestone on the way to introducing the world’s first burn nursing specialty credential, the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), the benchmark for nursing specialty certification across the emergency spectrum, has published the detailed exam content outline for its upcoming Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN) certification program.

“What is noteworthy and exciting about the CBRN content outline is that the burn care community, the civilian and military healthcare communities, and even consumers can now see the scope and depth of the advanced burn nursing knowledge, skills and abilities — from prehospital and acute care, patient and family support, recovery and rehabilitation, and prevention and education — that will distinguish board certified burn nurses,” said BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, CENP, CPHQ, FABC.

The fourth most common type of trauma and a major global public health issue, burn injuries are among the most devastating and complicated injuries. Burn injuries typically involve nurse-intensive care through all phases of burn care, and burn care expertise is known to significantly contribute to optimal care and outcomes for patients with burn injuries.

In August 2020, burn nursing was formally recognized as a nursing specialty by the American Nurses Association, following years of advocacy by burn nurses and the American Burn Association (ABA). Less than a year later, BCEN entered into an agreement to collaborate with the ABA on the initial development of a burn nursing specialty certification program.

“Since summer 2021, BCEN’s credentialing experts and an elite cadre of the world’s leading burn nurses have moved the development of the CBRN forward diligently and thoroughly,” said BCEN CEO Schumaker. “Next year, burn nurses around the world will have the opportunity to demonstrate their advanced expertise and competencies across this complex and consequential specialty.”

The CBRN is scheduled to be introduced in summer 2023. Now that the content outline has been finalized and approved by BCEN’s board of directors, burn nursing subject matter experts are developing items for the CBRN exam.

To earn the CBRN credential, and thereby be board certified in burn nursing, RNs and APRNs will need to pass a rigorous, standardized national exam. BCEN has an International Credential Evaluation process to facilitate the certification of eligible nurses educated and/or practicing outside of the United States, Canada or Australia.

As the sole owner of the CBRN, BCEN will offer, operate and maintain the CBRN specialty certification program. A complete timeline of the development of the CBRN certification is available at https://bcen.org/burn-nursing-specialty-certification/.

Specialty certification, also known as board certification, independently validates a nurse’s advanced knowledge and experience across a well-defined specialty practice area. As nursing’s highest professional credential, specialty certification promotes optimal health outcomes and advances nursing specialty knowledge, best practices and professionalism.

Learn more about BCEN at https://bcen.org/

TCAA and its members wish to express our gratitude to Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), the bill’s sponsor, as well as Energy & Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Ranking Member Brett Guthrie (R-KY) for helping to advance this critical legislation.

The legislation reauthorizes federal grant programs to support national trauma care, readiness, and coordination and improve trauma care in rural areas. The bill requires the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to award 10 grants for trauma centers to:

• Strengthen coordination and communication
• Develop approaches to improve emergency medical and trauma system access, including distribution of patients during an emergency
• Establish, implement and/or disseminate evidence-based or informed practices across facilities within the system to improve outcomes
• Conduct activities to support clinical research

It also aims to improve trauma care in rural areas with grants to support research and demonstration projects that improve emergency medical services and trauma care through development of innovative technology and training, education, transportation, prehospital care and other priorities. 

Finally, it invests in regional trauma care readiness and coordination by directing ASPR to work with States to develop guidance and resources that support states’ emergency medical services and trauma care coordination during public health emergencies.

Wednesday’s successful committee markup is just one of many hurdles that the legislation must overcome before being signed into law. The bill will next go to the House floor for a vote. A Senate companion bill (S. 3566), sponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), has been integrated into a larger legislative package, the PREVENT Pandemics Act (S. 3799), by Senate HELP Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC). 

The Improving Trauma Systems and Emergency Care Act is a top TCAA priority; the organization and its members have been championing the measure throughout the last two Congresses. On June 29, Dr. Kevin Croston, TCAA Chair-Elect, provided in-person testimony on the bill at a E&C Health Subcommittee hearing entitled “Investing in Public Health: Legislation to Support Patients, Workers, and Research.”

Please shine a green light and promote the day among your membership, constituencies and communities.

On November 10th, ASPR hosted a webinar regarding development of and input on guidelines for regional health care emergency preparedness and response systems. The guidelines will provide hospital systems, healthcare organizations and public and private companies with protocols for health emergency response. Following the webinar, ASPR shared the draft guidelines, comment matrix and introduction slides. Participants were invited to provide feedback through Friday, December 10th. TCAA submitted a comment letter in support of the guidelines and offered to serve as a resource and continue the partnership between the organizations. Click here for the full text of the letter.

Applications are due on Monday, September 20, 2021 at 11:59 PM ET— less than a week away! Please share this reminder with members of your network who may be interested in applying.

As a reminder, this NOFO seeks to fund one (1) new demonstration site that will advance the vision for a nationwide, regional response system, and that will help identify issues, develop leading practices, and demonstrate the potential effectiveness and viability of this concept. The new award will focus primarily on building and maturing the partnerships that are required to effectively prepare for and respond to the management of patients in disasters, including those that facilitate rapid expansion of medical surge capacity of the existing health care system, coordination of patient and resource movement to support the response, and the swift involvement of specific clinical specialists, building on lessons learned from the three active demonstration sites established in 2018 and 2020.

To learn more about the RDHRS and ensure that you submit the most competitive application possible, please reference the following materials:

• August 30 Partnership for Disaster Health Response NOFO Technical Assistance Webinar Materials: Click here for a PDF of the webinar slides. You may also access the RDHRS webpage for the webinar transcript and audio recording. Please feel free to share these resources with any members of your organization who were unable to attend this webinar or may be interested in the content discussed.
• RDHRS Webpage: This webpage contains overview information on the RDHRS and its demonstration sites as well as frequently asked questions.
• Region 1 RDHRS and Region VII Regional Disaster Health Response Ecosystem (RDHRE) Websites: The websites for the first two RDHRS demonstration sites, Region 1 RDHRS and Region VII Regional Disaster Health Response Ecosystem (RDHRE), contain preparedness and response-related trainings and educational resources as well as information on the respective demonstration site’s accomplishments and capabilities.

This NOFO seeks to fund up to seven (7) new cooperative agreements to enable ASPR’s broad collaboration with public health and healthcare sectors and emergency management services to ensure local governments, communities, private sector entities, non-governmental organizations, academia, and individuals can optimally coordinate their respective national health security roles and responsibilities to achieve community health resilience and strengthen health care, public health, and emergency management systems in preparation of, response to, and recovery from disasters and other emergencies.  

Applications must be submittedby 11:59PM ET on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.  

ASPR will host a technical assistance call on Thursday, September 9, 2021 from 3:00pm – 4:00pm ET. Interested individuals can register for this opportunity online. 

By Elizabeth Cohen, John Bonifield and Justin Lape,CNN

Updated 11:14 PM ET, Sat August 28, 2021

(CNN)For the first time in decades, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- the nation's top public health agency -- is speaking out forcefully about gun violence in America, calling it a "serious public health threat."

"Something has to be done about this," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "Now is the time -- it's pedal to the metal time."

This summer alone has seen a spree of gun injuries and deaths, and the weekends have been especially violent, with an average of 200 people killed and 472 injured by guns each weekend in the United States, not including suicides, according to an analysis done by the Gun Violence Archive for CNN. That's nearly 3.4 people shot every hour every weekend.

"The scope of the problem is just bigger than we're even hearing about, and when your heart wrenches every day you turn on the news, you're only hearing the tip of the iceberg," Walensky said. "We haven't spent the time, energy and frankly the resources to understand this problem because it's been so divided."

The last sitting CDC director to make strong public statements about gun violence was Dr. David Satcher, who served in the position from 1993 to 1998.

The National Rifle Association is a powerful lobbying force in Washington, and fearing Congressional budget cuts under NRA pressure, former CDC directors for decades were all but silent on gun violence, even as guns killed tens of thousands of Americans a year.

Satcher said Walensky was brave for speaking out.

"This might mean -- could well mean -- taking some risks, so I salute Dr. Walensky," Satcher said.

The CDC's plan

In April, President Joe Biden said the country was facing "a gun violence public health epidemic," but the CDC hasn't said how it plans to address the epidemic until now.

"I swore to the President and to this country that I would protect your health. This is clearly one of those moments, one of those issues that is harming America's health," Walensky said.

Decades after lobbying pressure and politics all but stopped gun violence research, Walensky's plan is to restart that research and identify effective solutions.

For example, the CDC is spending $2,224,482 to fund a surveillance mechanism that tracks, in nearly real time, the number of people coming into emergency rooms with nonfatal gunshot wounds. It collects data on the intent of the injury -- documenting, for example, whether it was self-inflicted, unintentional or related to an assault.

"We don't even know who enters the emergency department, in most places, as a result of firearm injury -- we don't even know it," Walesnky said.

The agency is also spending $8,085,935 on 18 research projects to prevent gun-related violence and injuries.

In one of those projects, gun stores in Colorado have developed a suicide awareness program. So far in 2021, more than 15,700 people in the US have used a gun to end their own lives, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Another project in Vermont educates children about how to safely use and store guns. According to a 2015 study, an estimated 7% of US children -- or 4.6 million, at the time -- lived with at least one loaded and unlocked gun.

"My job is to understand and evaluate the problem, to understand the scope of the problem, to understand why this happens and what are the things that can make it better - to research that, to scale that up, to evaluate it and to make sure that we can integrate it into communities," Walensky said. "We have a lot of work to do in every single one of those areas because we haven't done a lot of work as a nation in almost any of them."

The CDC once did these kinds of studies -- until 1997, when the NRA convinced Congress to cut all of the CDC's funding for gun research, a loss equivalent to millions of dollars a year.

In 2018, then President Donald Trump signed a government spending bill that allowed the CDC to conduct gun violence research, and in 2020 and 2021 Congress agreed to millions of dollars for gun violence research for the first time in decades, allocating $25 million split between the CDC and the US National Institutes of Health.

Walensky said much of CDC's research will be engaged in understanding the root causes of gun violence.

"Oftentimes these will be escalating events that occur that might lead to a suicide or a homicide, and what we really need to do is understand the root causes of that," she said. "The firearm injury is probably the most distal part of what happens. It is the end event. What are the 10, 12, 15 things where we could have intervened before that singular event?"

A colleague's tragedy

Walensky is an infectious diseases specialist, but in 2012, she witnessed firsthand the grief caused by gun violence.

At the time, she was a professor at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Dr. Chana Sacks was a resident. Sacks awoke on December 14 to learn that her cousin's son, Daniel Barden, had been shot at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Daniel, a first grader, died that day.

"There were months of looking at pictures of Daniel every day and then a year of reading every book, every study, all the data I could find on firearm-violence prevention," Sacks wrote in a 2015 essay in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Determined to find a way to curb gun violence, Sacks turned to Walensky, one of her closest mentors.

While mentors often direct young doctors to do research in well-funded specialties, Sacks says Walensky encouraged her to go into gun research, which was -- and still is -- politically charged and not very well funded.

"It was one step at a time, and Rochelle really helped me figure out each step, how I could find pathways to make this work," Sacks told CNN.

Sacks went on to become co-founder and co-director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"This is inherently emotional work and Rochelle has helped me through a lot of tears," Sacks said. "She saw that pain up close and there is no way to not be affected by it."

'I'm not here about gun control'

In restarting gun violence research, Walensky said she wants the CDC to find common ground with gun owners.

"Let's agree, we don't want people to die. Let's just agree there. What can we do to stop people from dying, and what can we do to stop people from being injured," she said.

Walensky seems careful to avoid the ire of gun rights activists -- she doesn't even like using the word "gun," preferring the term "firearm."

"Generally, the word gun, for those who are worried about research in this area, is followed by the word control, and that's not what I want to do here," she added. "I'm not here about gun control. I'm here about preventing gun violence and gun death."

She said she doesn't want people to think she is trying to take away their guns.

"This is not a conversation about having them or not having them. This is a conversation about how we can make them being here safe," she said. "The research that we intend to do is going to be squarely about making America safe. Making people safe."

She invited gun owners to be part of the solution.

"Come to the table. Join us in the conversation," she said. "I want you to teach me what you have done to make your gun safe, and then I want you to teach everybody else," she added.

"We cannot understand the research of firearm violence, firearm injury, without embracing wholeheartedly, the firearm owning community," she added. "I really do believe that the population of people who wants to own a gun doesn't want people hurt by them. The majority of the population does not want people hurt by them. I want them at the table."

CNN reached out to the NRA to ask if it was willing to work with Walensky. A spokesperson for the NRA did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

When gun owners hear that the CDC wants to reduce gun violence, they'll think that the government wants to take away their guns, said Dr. Chris Barsotti, an emergency physician and gun owner who teaches children in the firearm education program in Vermont.

"They're going to think this is another political approach to make it difficult to access guns or potentially confiscate guns or create barriers to access," Barsotti said.

Barsotti and other gun owners say there are committed to reducing gun violence. He is the founding CEO of the American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine.

The NRA's next steps

By speaking up, Walenksy risks enraging the NRA.

If the gun lobby again pressures Congress to cut CDC gun research funding, it's unclear if lawmakers will acquiesce as they did in 1997.

Andrew McGuire, who's been involved in gun control advocacy for more than 30 years, said the NRA may no longer have the political power it once did, given that the group tried to file for bankruptcy and New York Attorney General Letitia James has charged the NRA with illegal conduct and filed a lawsuit to dissolve them.

Violent summer

An analysis by the Gun Violence Archive for CNN identified an average of 200 people killed and 472 injured by guns each weekend in the United States this summer, not including suicides. That's nearly 3.4 people shot every hour every weekend.

The data on the summer spree of gun violence comes from an analysis by the Gun Violence Archive for CNN in which "weekends" were defined as beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday and lasting until 5 a.m. on Monday, or until Tuesday, in the case of Memorial Day and Independence Day weekends. It spans the unofficial start of summer in the United States, Memorial Day weekend, through August 23, the last summer weekend for which data is available.

In a letter to its members, the NRA pushed back against the charges, saying the NRA was "committed to good governance" and that it "complies with board policies and accounting controls, (has) displaced 'insiders' who abused the Association, and accepted reimbursements for costs voluntarily determined to be excess benefits."

"Is the NRA down and out enough that they can't muster an all-out assault on the CDC? Or is that totally crazy thinking because the NRA can always muster any assault at any time?" said McGuire, executive director of the Trauma Foundation, an injury prevention organization.

Even if the NRA does mount an all-out war against the CDC, it's not clear that Republican members of Congress will respond as obediently as they did 25 years ago, McGuire added.

"Are members of Congress who have been in their grip thinking of the NRA as a wounded animal and so maybe aren't in their grip anymore?" he said.

While Walensky said she worries that just saying the word guns or talking about firearms could anger many Americans, she said she's committing to pursing the gun violence research.

"I also worry that if we don't do anything about it, we have a whole sector of the United States that gets really angry," she said. "This is one of the leading killers of our young people in this country. It's a high priority."

Sacks, her former colleague in Boston, said Walensky is a determined person.

"If you've spoken to Rochelle for ten minutes, you know that when she focuses on something with intensity, it's going to happen," she said.