End the Use of Live Pigs for Training at Baystate Medical Center

There are only a few programs left that use live animals for their Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) courses and Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts is one of them.

Baystate Medical Center is currently using pigs for its trauma sessions, which the hospital is justifying by claiming this is the best way to teach students.

This week the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a complaint with the USDA, claiming that Baystate Medical Center is violating the Animal Welfare Act, which requires facilities to use alternatives when available.

According to PCRM, 90 percent of schools offering this program use non-animal models like the TraumaMan System (which Baystate owns!), Synman, and human cadavers for these courses. These alternatives have also been approved by the American College of Surgeons.

The study Dying to Learn: Exposing the Supply of Dogs and Cats to Higher Education also found that both medical and veterinary students can learn just as well through alternative teaching methods that can include hands on training at shelters for vet students and simulators for medical students.

Some from the medical community have also spoken out against using live animals for this type of training. Dr. Edward Linkner, a former student at the University of Michigan’s School of Medicine spoke out about this practice in the Detroit Free Press. He refused to participate in the dog lab while he was a student and stated that, “it was clear that using live dogs to practice critical procedures meant for human patients is unnecessary and inhumane–and it does not give participants an accurate understanding of human anatomy.”

Send a letter to Baystate Medical Center asking them to use training alternatives that don’t involve animals for their ATLS courses.

Read more: animal rights, animal welfare, medicine, pcrm, trauma man

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Suzy E.

3:52AM PDT on May 30, 2011

Diane Decker, you have no idea and must be quite dull and imperceptive if you believe there is not a beautiful being inside the body of a pig. I have worked with pigs in a factory farm and was heartbroken by their sadness, frustration and fear at being handled by monstrous people without a clue about the feelings of these sensitive and clever animals. I have also worked with them at a farm sanctuary where their full personalities were allowed to shine and where they participated with each other and with we humans in games such of soccer, tug of war and chase, and would squeal with delight and fun. They jostle for affection from people, grunt their greetings and roll over for a tummy rub while making eye contact with expressions only the dullest of humans could fail to be captivated and moved by. I heard of a pig who broke out of a houseyard and lay on a road to stop passersby when her owner suffered a heart attack, consequently getting help for her beloved person whose life was saved because of the actions of this pig. Do these animals really have no value, Diane Decker??

send a green star

Gloria W.

3:39PM PDT on May 9, 2011

what about virtual or dummies???

Hayley Sarah G.

3:26PM PDT on May 9, 2011

This is madness to still be using live patients. Im a veterinary nurse and I have never learnt on live patients and I can manage trauma patients fine. I am proud of where I am today and I help animals every day and I cant stand that this act is still going on the stress those poor animals are going through. You must be pretty stupid if they feel animals dont suffer pain like humans do. just because they cant talk doesnt mean they cant feel. stupid idiots. They arnt caring people if they do this. I hope they have a pet dog and it bits them. ha ha

Carlene V.

8:15AM PDT on May 9, 2011

Are these people heartless? They can certainly use the other options available, no need to torture these helpless animals.

Yvonne S.

3:50AM PDT on May 9, 2011

Diane Decker you should be ashamed of yourself. All animals have as much right to life as we do. As for pigs being ugly (which I don't think they are) you should remember the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". You should perhaps also try taking a long hard look in a mirror.

Past Member .

9:17PM PDT on May 8, 2011

Diane Decker you are one of the nastiest people I've ever seen on Care2, you are lower than a snake's belly. I'm so glad someone reported you. I can't get to your profile to block you, so I hope that means you've been removed from this site. May you get exactly what you deserve, you pathetic piece of garbage.

Mervi R.

3:41PM PST on Dec 5, 2009

When there are viable animal- and cruelty-free options available, it is really hard to understand why this kind of abuse is still going on.

Sarah D.

4:15PM PST on Nov 5, 2009

Why can't they just use virtual simulation equipment to train?

Shevlin R.

1:47PM PST on Nov 4, 2009

It appears Diane Decker is an animal bigot. Not a racist, but perhaps a speciesist?

How can anybody compare the life of a BIGOT to the life of a human (bigots being human is, IMO, questionable), or other cute animals like dogs & cats? Or even chimps & monkeys? We're talking about bigots here. They are the lowliest animals on the face of this plant, & the ugliest, most disgusting beasts that exist. They are only good for the food they pass on as sewage to keep the water treatment and septic tank pumping people employed. I'd rather have a pet pig. At least they are somewhat cute.

1:38PM PST on Nov 4, 2009

To Diane Decker:

Your comment has just been reported due to the severity of prejudice it contains. Care2 is not intended to be a hateful place - that would defeat the purpose of it.

I highly recommend you read some articles on kindness and compassion toward all beings great and small. It may do your heart a world of good.

Bless your heart.