PETA wants military to stop using animals in medical training

[RedGlitter]

I realize a lot of members are going to attribute this to the grudge people have against Peta, but that aside, did you know your tax money pays for your government to perform this cruelty on animals? Do you care?



PETA wants military to stop using animals in medical training


HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- Animal-rights activists want the United States to stop using animals as subjects to help train its military, calling the medical and trauma exercises cruel and a disservice to the troops.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter Monday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to replace the use of animals with non-animal methods such as human simulators.
In the letter, PETA said the military inflicts gunshot, burn and chemical wounds on monkeys, pigs and goats for training.
"This outmoded practice is not only cruel, but is a disservice to the men and women who risk their lives in defense of our country and who deserve the most effective trauma training methods available," wrote Kathy Guillermo, director of the PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department.



The Pentagon did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
PETA's letter comes 10 days after the group failed to prevent the Army from shooting live pigs and treating their gunshot wounds in a medical trauma exercise at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
The Army said the training is critical to teach soldiers how to manage critically injured patients within the first few hours of their injuries when there are no medics, doctors or facilities nearby.
PETA believes the military's Combat Trauma Patient Simulation system, which is being used at other bases such as Camp Pendleton in California and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, is a more advanced and humane option.
PETA noted the Department of Defense's animal welfare policy that states, "Alternative methods to the use of animals must be considered and used if such alternatives produce scientifically valid or equivalent results to attain the research, education, training, and testing objectives."

[spot]

Originally Posted by RedGlitter

PETA noted the Department of Defense's animal welfare policy that states, "Alternative methods to the use of animals must be considered and used if such alternatives produce scientifically valid or equivalent results to attain the research, education, training, and testing objectives."

What's the equivalent to pinning down a crazed 200 pound mammal that's spurting blood over your hands while you're trying to clamp severed arteries and get a field dressing established before it dies on you? I can't see any likely alternative to that at all. Lives are dependent on the average GI knowing beforehand what it takes.

[RedGlitter]

Well, I figure if you're going to be working on people, you should practice on people. Similar to doctors. Let them get some cadavers instead. I don't like cruelty. A lot of that stuff is unnecessary. I don't approve of the government using my money for that.

[spot]

Originally Posted by RedGlitter

Well, I figure if you're going to be working on people, you should practice on people. Similar to doctors. Let them get some cadavers instead. I don't like cruelty. A lot of that stuff is unnecessary. I don't approve of the government using my money for that.

It can't be a dead body, human or otherwise. It has to be spurting and wriggling. Anyone can patch up a corpse. The only real alternative is to train the GIs in less realistic conditions.

[RedGlitter]

I don't see anything wrong with that. If they have flight simulators in the military and surgical simulators in the medical field, then they ought to be able to come up with something better for this situation. I just don't think it's ever right to use animals which are feeling, sentient creatures in cruelty ridden procedures for the sake of human benefit. I mean, if I said why not use humans? You'd probably tell me I was insane. But really if it's unethical to do that, then it's just as unethical to use an animal who can't consent. The word I want to use to describe what I think of the people behind this if I can say this, is "chickensh*t." That's what I think it is. Lowdown.

[spot]

You'll end up with more battlefield deaths. Removing the one leads to the other. I've no idea what "military and surgical simulators in the medical field" are - perhaps you can point to one - but it's not the same as an injured pig. How close does it simulate?

[RedGlitter]

In medicine they have machines that simulate what it's like to perform surgery or perform say, a gynecological exam. I'm sure it's not 100% the same as putting your hand in a real body or in the case of military flight simulators which imitate what it's like to pilot a plane, as good as flying in a real plane, but from what I have read in articles from doctors and military people, it's an adequate comparison.
I don't know statistically how close these machines come to accurate simulation, I'm sorry I can't answer that.

Have you happened to see any documented footage of these military animal tests, Spot? It's quite upsetting. A pig screaming in pain because its skin has been burned off is not a sound you forget.

[Accountable]

Originally Posted by RedGlitter

Have you happened to see any documented footage of these military animal tests? It's quite upsetting. A pig screaming in pain because its skin has been burned off is not a sound you forget.

Do you have links?

[RedGlitter]

This is the uncut version taken from the Peta.org website. It might offer a little more info?

U.S. Military Shooting and Burning Live Monkeys, Goats, and Pigs in Trauma Training


The Department of Defense is shooting and burning monkeys, pigs, and goats in combat training exercises for servicemen and servicewomen—even though more effective non-animal simulators are readily available. Leading medical experts agree that these simulators offer superior training. In addition to being cruel, this outmoded practice is a disservice to the men and women who risk their lives in defense of our country and who deserve the most effective trauma training methods available.
PETA is calling for an immediate end to all use of animals in trauma training exercises. Most medical schools long ago ended the use of animals for trauma training.
Many humane alternatives for trauma training are readily available, including the following:
• Having military level one trauma centers work with the community and take care of the entire population of their city
• The Combat Trauma Patient Simulation System, which "provide[s] realistic training" and dropped the trainee attrition rate from 23 percent to 6 percent, according to CHIPS (the U.S. Navy's information technology magazine)
• Simulab Corporation's TraumaMan system, which has been approved by the American College of Surgeons for teaching Advanced Trauma Life Support
• Dr. Emad Aboud's "living" cadaver perfusion model, which has been endorsed by more than 20 surgeons and used in surgical training at universities in the U.S. and abroad
You Can Help
Medical experts agree that there is no need to shoot pigs and goats and to burn monkeys with chemical weapons to teach soldiers and medics how to treat human injuries. Please help animals who are suffering in Department of Defense trauma training exercises by using the form below to send a quick message to Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates respectfully urging him to replace the use of animals with non-animal methods.
Please contact the Department of Defense today by filling out their Ask A Question web form.
Feel free to copy and paste the sample letter below or write your own.
Sample Letter
I was shocked to learn that the Department of Defense is shooting live pigs and goats and burning monkeys in trauma training exercises. There is no justification for this cruelty. The majority of medical schools in North America no longer use animals for medical trauma training, and more effective humane alternatives are readily available. I respectfully request that you adopt PETA's recommendations and take immediate action to end the needless suffering of animals in these outdated training exercises.

[RedGlitter]

Originally Posted by Accountable

Do you have links?

It's been a while but I will certainly try to find some for you.