End the Use of Pigs in Trauma Training Courses

[Ed. Note: VICTORY...Notification from PCRM, December 17, 2010, that not only did the dean commit to permanently ending this animal use, he made the switch prior to the course that was held last week!]

FROM  Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

ACTION

Tell University of Massachusetts Medical School to stop the use of live pigs in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) courses.

Sign an online petition

And/Or make direct contact:

Terence Flotte, M.D., Dean
University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS)
phone (508) 856-8000
email

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Please take a minute to let University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) dean Terence Flotte, M.D., know that you want him to stop the use of live pigs in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) courses. We have provided text for you, but if you decide to write your own message, please be polite and encouraging. Here are some talking points:

• Please replace the use of animals in UMMS’s ATLS courses.
• Human-based training methods have been approved to teach these procedures by the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
• Ninety-five percent of ATLS courses in the United States—including Boston University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital—use only human-based methods.

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I am writing to ask that you immediately end the use of live pigs in the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) courses. The use of live animals in ATLS courses is cruel and outdated. University of Massachusetts Medical School is among only five percent of U.S. institutions using animals for these courses. The American College of Surgeons has approved simulators such as the TraumaMan System for this course, so there is no justification for the continued use of live animals. Please end this cruel and unnecessary practice immediately.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!