Political Quotes

“I rise today to discuss military medical training, and specifically, the use of live animals in trauma training. Many Americans may be unaware that the Military still uses live pigs and goats in combat trauma training courses to train military personnel to treat battlefield injuries. This is an outdated and inefficient training method that does not fully prepare doctors and medics to treat wounded service members. For many years, medical simulation has not been able to provide a training experience superior to animal-based live tissue training, but the newest generation of simulators can do just that. These simulators are based on human anatomy and recreate the feeling, the sights, and the sounds of treating a wounded service member. In current military training, live pigs and goats are anesthetized while trainees perform critical procedures on them. In some cases, the animals are shot in the face or have limbs amputated while the trainees are instructed to keep them alive as long as possible. This is inhumane, but more importantly, it is like comparing apples and oranges--this does not teach service members how to treat a human soldier, only how to operate on a goat or pig. And while live tissue training has some value in getting trainees accustomed to the sight of blood, medical simulation can now do the same, and has become the new gold standard.…”