A registered nurse from MeritCare Health Systems will testify in front of a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee today.
Mary Jagim, who leads MeritCare's pandemic and emergency preparedness planning, will travel to Washington, D.C., to speak to a subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee.
The hearing is "Emergency Care Crisis: A Nation Unprepared for Public Health Disasters."
Jagim serves on the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Future of Emergency care in the U.S. Health System. Recent reports from that organization have revealed that emergency departments and trauma centers are overcrowded and specialists often aren't available. That could be a homeland security concern in case of a mass trauma event.
