taken directly from www.peta2.com
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Help Stop the Army’s War on Animals!
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If the U.S. Army wants to provide its student medics with the best training available, it should replace the goats used in its advanced trauma life support (ATLS) exercises with teaching methods that befit the world’s most sophisticated and effective military.
Not only is shooting, stabbing, and otherwise injuring these highly intelligent and social animals cruel, it is totally unnecessary. State-of-the-art patient simulators are used by such prestigious institutions as the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Residents also learn how to treat gunshot and stab wounds, broken bones, head injuries, etc., under the direct supervision of trauma professionals in our nation’s hospitals. Both of these methods are superior to using goats or other animals in training exercises. Cadavers have proved extremely effective in teaching ATLS as well: Philip Militello, M.D., an instructor at The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) in Baltimore, has taught approximately 100 trauma training courses, both with dogs and with an innovative program using human cadavers and simulators. He considers using cadavers a big advantage and explains, “The anatomy of a cadaver human is identical to a patient, while a dog’s anatomical landmarks differ. Over the years, it has become clear that students enjoy doing the procedures on a human cadaver specimen because of the identical scenarios, landmarks, and the hands-on experience. It mirrors the clinical scenario and is very well received.”
Given the military’s vast resources, there is no excuse (e.g., the war on terror, the war in Iraq, old habits, etc.) for the U.S. Army not to replace its inferior and archaic animal labs with the humane, more effective, and modern training methods noted above. Please send letters of protest:
The Honorable Les Brownlee
Under Secretary of the U.S. Army
The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301
PW 8010