Schiff Effort to Improve Expedited Treatment to our Troops Included in Defense Appropriations Bill
Washington, DC– Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced that the Defense Appropriations bill includes $1 million for UCLA’s Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology. The funding will be used to build on core technologies previously developed by UCLA to allow for the rapid delivery of vital treatments. Development of these technologies would be especially desirable for use in the military to provide health care to soldiers wounded in combat, where acute injuries commonly arise and earlier treatment can save lives.
“This funding will support the development of technologies that enable more rapid, mobile, and coordinated delivery of treatment, not only to the brave men and women in uniform and on the battlefield, but also to the general public,” Rep. Schiff said. “Although the bill still has several more legislative hurdles to clear, inclusion of the funding in the measure is a very positive step.”
“First, we want to thank Congressman Schiff for his interest in and support of UCLA’s Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT),” said A. Eugene Washington, MD, Vice Chancellor Health Sciences and Dean, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. “These funds would help us create a new program – “Technologies for Rapid Response in Interventional Medicine”— that would develop systems to enable fast, mobile and networked delivery of less invasive and easier to use interventional medical solutions. Potential applications for the military are obvious. But ultimately these systems would improve the delivery of health care for everyone.”
“The purpose of CASIT and our research is primarily to improve the quality of care and delivery of care to the warfighter,” said E. Carmack Holmes, M.D., Executive Director, CASIT. “However, the information and knowledge we collect can also be translated to benefit the civilian sector. We are thankful to Congressman Adam Schiff for helping secure this funding for CASIT to meet our infrastructure needs and support our important research.”