Tell Baystate Medical Center to End the Use of Live Pigs in Trauma Training Courses

[Ed. Note: Be sure to read End of Animal Use for Trauma Training in Sight. Very good news because of all the ATLS trauma training programs in the U.S. today, 96% no longer use live animals and instead use simulators.]

FROM Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

ACTION

Ask Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts to replace the use of pigs with simulators today. ATLS training at Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts still involves cutting into anesthetized pigs and practicing procedures such as inserting a tube and needle into the animals’ chest cavities and cutting into their throats.

Sign an online petition

And/Or make direct contact:

Mark R., Tolosky, JD, FACHE
President and CEO
Baystate Health
280 Chestnut Street
Springfield, MA 01199
general phone (413) 794-0000
Mark Tolosky's phone (413) 794-5890
online email form

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

ATLS training at Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts still involves cutting into anesthetized pigs and practicing procedures such as inserting a tube and needle into the animals’ chest cavities and cutting into their throats. After the training session, the animals are killed. The animals are also subjected to the trauma of confinement, shipping, and preparation for surgery.

Baystate operates a medical simulation center accredited by the American College of Surgeons—one of only 39 simulation centers in the world to have received this accreditation. If these simulation devices were fully utilized, the institution could immediately replace the use of animals.

• Please replace the use of live pigs in your ATLS courses with superior human-based training methods.
• Massachusetts General Hospital recently ended its animal use and has switched to using the American College of Surgeons-approved TraumaMan System for all of its ATLS courses.
• Your medical center conducts the only ATLS course in Massachusetts involving live animals.
• Since your hospital already owns the TraumaMan System, there is no justification for this continued animal use.
• Please end this cruel and unnecessary practice immediately.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!