Victory! Mass General Hospital Stops the Use of Sheep in Trauma Training

Good news for our woolly friends: Massachusetts General Hospital has recently agreed to stop using live sheep in its Advanced Trauma Life Support courses.

The compassionate decision came after a long campaign from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, with added pressure from a Change.org petition. PCRM celebrated the recent announcement, calling it a "monumental achievement."

Massachusetts General Hospital will now use simulators in its trauma training, joining 95 percent of medical centers that use non-animal based methods of training.  There's only a few stragglers left in the United States that still use animals for trauma training, and only one ATLS course in Massachusetts that still uses live animals: Baystate Medical Center.

Baystate Medical Center uses live pigs in their trauma training. During the training, the chests and throats of the pigs are cut into, and tubes are often inserted down their throats. Even though the animals are anesthetized during the surgery, they are subject to stressful shipping, confinement, and preparation before the procedure. And after the surgery, all the animals are euthanized.

PCRM believes this training violates Massachusetts’ animal cruelty law, explaining that Massachusetts’ law criminalizes conduct that “mutilates or kills an animal, or causes or procures an animal to be ... mutilated or killed." PCRM recently filed a legal complaint against Baystate Medical Center, citing this statute.

The method of learning with the use of live animals is outdated and cruel, and there's simply no reason for Baystate to continue to use live pigs in trauma training. The American College of Surgeons approves non-animal training procedures, including the TraumaMan simulators, which Baystate already owns.

Mass. General's recent compassionate decision to remove sheep from the operating table may be just the pressure Baystate Medical Center needs. Dr. John J. Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C., PCRM senior medical and research adviser said: “If Mass. General acknowledged that it isn’t necessary to use animals for this purpose, that’s hard to refute because they’re held in such high regard."

Dr. Pippin further praised Massachusetts General Hospital's choice as both "ethically and educationally responsible." He said, “The move will create a better educational experience for physicians and ensure that animals are no longer needlessly harmed. Those last few facilities still using live animals for trauma training should follow MGH and adopt state-of-the-art, human-centered methods for their own trauma courses."

It's time for Baystate Medical Center to join the rest of the medical community in ending the use of animals in ATLS courses. Sign the petition to ask Baystate Medical Center to stop using live pigs in their trauma training courses.

Photo Credit: foxypar4