42 U.S.C. § 300d–5 — Competitive grants for trauma systems for the improvement of trauma care

(a) In general The Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, may give grants to States, local governments, or groups of them to improve access to and development of trauma care systems. (b) Use of funds A grant recipient must agree to use the money to: (1) expand a trauma care system's reach, such as with new prehospital-care protocols; (2) strengthen or improve an existing trauma care system; (3) improve communications between the trauma system and EMS through better equipment or telemedicine; (4) improve data collection and retention; or (5) increase education, training, and technical assistance, such as EMS training in rural areas delivered through telehealth or home study. (c) Preference Among applicants, the Secretary must favor those that: (1) already use national standards to designate trauma centers; (2) have protocols for getting seriously injured patients to trauma centers; (3) have a process for evaluating the trauma system's performance; and (4) agree to share data with the information systems described in section 300d–3. (d) Priority The Secretary must give priority to applicants who will use the grant to improve access to trauma care systems. (e) Special consideration The Secretary must give special consideration to projects showing strong State or local support, including non-federal contributions.