And is this really necessary? I'm not a PETA extremist or something, but this exercise strikes me as being a hairs breadth from murdering one entity to benefit another. Are civilian surgeons trained this way? After all they're probably going to have to treat "street combat" gun shot wounds and worse.
Army will shoot live pigs for medical training
(AP) -- The Army says it's critical to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated. Despite opposition by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Army is moving forward with its plan to shoot live pigs and treat their gunshot wounds in a medical trauma exercise Friday at Schofield Barracks for soldiers headed to Iraq.
Maj. Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said the training is being conducted under a U.S. Department of Agriculture license and the careful supervision of veterinarians and a military Animal Care and Use Committee.
"It's to teach Army personnel how to manage critically injured patients within the first few hours of their injury," Cheng said.
The soldiers are learning emergency lifesaving skills needed on the battlefield when there are no medics, doctors or facility nearby, he said.
PETA, however, said there are more advanced and humane options available, including high-tech human simulators. In a letter, PETA urged the Army to end all use of animals, "as the overwhelming majority of North American medical schools have already done."
"Shooting and maiming pigs is outdated as Civil War rifles," said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department.
Check out Susannity's post on this subject:
Army Shooting Live Pigs for Medical Trainingexcerpt:
I was a medic in the Air Force and also trained as a civilian paramedic at the Oregon Health Sciences University. While at OHSU, we did do one procedure on a live pig that was sedated. There is a procedure called a cut down that is used when one is absolutely unable to get an IV started because the patient is hypovolemic. You cut into the flesh to actually get to a vein and start an IV. Our pig was not euthanized as this procedure is not that invasive, but I remember being traumatized that we were practicing on a live animal. I guess one could argue if it is better to practice on a live patient, but I guess I might argue yes. If you are attempting that procedure, it is because that person needs it. The first live patient intubations I performed were on folks undergoing surgery. But the first time I intubated someone in the field under an emergency situation, it still felt different and scary. (Luckily, I had no problems - phew!) Anyway, if we had sedated someone or some animal for the sole purpose of intubation, I think I would have had issue. Sedation has its issues and intubation is an irritant. Taking that many steps forward to shooting an animal seems wrong.
I just posted about this too! It's unnecessary IMO.
Good post on your part.
I didn't know you were a med.
I also didn't know that blood volume could be so low that there isn'y enough to inflate a vein and the patient cvan still be alive. I mean where's the blood pressure at during hypovolemia?
What blood pressure? =) BP is low to extremely low depending on the severity of the hypovolemic shock. The body does amazing things to compensate by drawing fluids from all cells into the vascular system. Vasoconstriction also occurs, hence pale color and cooler body temp.
What prevents the veins from sticking together once they have collapsed? I'm thinking of the same sort of thing that happened to lungs when they collapse...perhaps its not the same.