Military-Civilian Partnerships

In this special collaboration episode of the Cutting Edge and Frontline Surgery podcasts, host Dr. Caroline Park is joined by co-hosts Dr. Joshua Dilday and Dr. Rachel Russo, along with national trauma leader Dr. Mary Margaret Knudson, to discuss surge capacity and workforce continuity in military-civilian partnerships. Dr. Knudson traces the history of mil-civ partnerships from World War II through the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2017 and 2018, and examines whether the current 25 Mission Zero-funded partnerships are truly preparing the trauma system for large-scale combat operations (LISCO).The panel confronts a sobering reality: in a major conflict, military treatment facilities and embedded military personnel will all be deployed — leaving civilian trauma centers to receive combat casualties while already operating at capacity with reduced staffing. The episode explores what individual trauma centers and the national system must do now to prepare, including patient redistribution agreements, OR and ICU surge planning, and practicing combat casualty reception protocols well before they are needed.The panel confronts a sobering reality: in a major conflict, military treatment facilities and embedded military personnel will all be deployed — leaving civilian trauma centers to receive combat casualties while already operating at capacity with reduced staffing. The episode explores what individual trauma centers and the national system must do now to prepare, including patient redistribution agreements, OR and ICU surge planning, and practicing combat casualty reception protocols well before they are needed.