26:2KK-1 Findings, declarations relative to trauma care.

1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Injury is the leading cause of death for New Jersey citizens aged one to 44, the fourth leading cause of death for all age groups, and accounts for more than 60,000 emergency department visits in the State each year, with direct medical costs estimated to be in excess of $2 billion;

b. At the request of the Department of Health, the American College of Surgeons Trauma Systems Evaluation and Planning Committee assessed the State's trauma system and made numerous recommendations for its improvement. The committee found that, while the provision of trauma care in New Jersey has many dedicated trauma professionals, a sufficient number of ten trauma centers strategically located in the State, and 100 percent emergency medical services coverage, the trauma care system faces many challenges. Among the challenges noted by the committee are the absence of one lead State agency to oversee and ensure the coordination of a Statewide trauma system and the absence of systematic data collection concerning the various aspects of trauma care in the State;

c. Among the recommendations made by the committee to address the challenges to the State trauma system were: establishment of a statutorily authorized lead agency to oversee the development of a formal State trauma system, appointment of a designated leader to coordinate stakeholders involved in all aspects of providing trauma care in the development, maintenance, and ongoing evaluation of a formal State trauma system, the creation of an advisory body to formulate policies that address all aspects of patient care, and the development of prevention strategies to help control injury as part of a formal State trauma system;

d. While there currently exists a Trauma Center Council in New Jersey which represents multidisciplinary trauma care within the State-designated trauma centers, this Council is focused on the activities and operations of New Jersey's State-designated trauma centers, with limitations in developing an effective trauma system for the State of New Jersey; and

e. In order to more effectively prevent injury, improve the care and outcomes of individuals who are injured in New Jersey, and save lives, it is appropriate to ensure the development and implementation of a formal State trauma system to serve injured patients in the State along the continuum of their care, and establish means for ongoing data collection and input from relevant stakeholders in the State's trauma care system to inform policies concerning trauma care in the State.

L.2013, c.223, s.1.