MILITARY: Groups decry use of pigs (PETA crazies alert)

NC Times ^ | August8, 2009 | Mark Walker

[jazusamo]

PETA planning protest at Camp Pendleton gate this week

Using live animals to train combat medics and others in how to deal with traumatic injuries is no longer necessary because of sophisticated medical mannequins and other training options, people opposed to the practice argue.

A group of doctors aligned under the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington contends it's not only unnecessary to use live animals, it's illegal, too. The group recently petitioned the Department of Defense to stop using animals, citing Army and Navy regulations.

"The use of vervet monkeys by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense constitutes a clear violation of the Joint Regulation, as does the use of pigs and goats," the group wrote in a petition filed July 18 with the Defense Department.

Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the petition is under review.

The Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also object to the practice.

After learning that training involving anesthetized pigs is taking place in Valley Center for Camp Pendleton troops, PETA last month tried to convince county land-use officials to shut it down. That effort failed, and now the group says it plans a protest at the Main Gate into Camp Pendleton on Wednesday.

The company conducting the training for the Marine Corps, Deployment Medicine International, was founded in the mid-1990s. David Morehouse, its vice president for operations, has written a lengthy defense of using pigs and other animals, saying the training may be the only exposure troops get prior to seeing a war casualty. (Read the full text of his statement at "DMI Talking Point Paper").

"Every possible step is taken to ensure the animal feels no pain during the training," he wrote...

[org.whodat]

A group of doctors aligned under the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington

Spelled PETA!!

[jwparkerjr]

I see this as a two-fer, two for the price of one. The medics get some very valuable training and experience, the rest of the post gets spare ribs and pork roast at chow time. Works for me!

I am doing some work for a company that developed and is marketing suits used in emergency medical situations to cool down a person's core body temp to the range that's considered therapeutic hypothermy, 85 degrees C, give or take. Early testing was done on pigs because they were the best substitutes for humans. Much of the work was done in Europe because of the more permissive regulatory patterns there. They made a couple of interesting and unexpected discoveries during the course of testing. One was that you could deprive the pig of over 90 percent of its blood supply and with hypothermia methods re-infuse the animal and it would suffer virtually no undesirable results. As a rule, lose over 30 percent of your blood and the damage is irreversible, even with prompt replacement of the blood.

[Flycatcher]

His group, Pippin said, would not have filed such a petition with war raging in Afghanistan, and to a lesser extent in Iraq, if it was not convinced that mannequins, simulated exercises and putting troops in trauma centers were sufficient.

That's a lie. The kooks at PETA grow bolder every year, and with Obama in the White House, they think they have a sympathetic friend for the moment.

Sad thing is, they do. The resolution of this should prove interesting.

Thanks for the ping, Jaz.

[jazusamo]

Thanks, that’s interesting. Sounds like there are good possibilities.

Do you know if this theory is based on the fact that drowning victims (mostly children) have survived long periods under frigid water and survived?

[jazusamo]

I agree, Fly. They would file this, war or no wars and I do believe they’ve got a friend in Zer0.

[gargoyle]

...The Capital in DC has got 500 subjects that need brain surgery, maybe just a lobotomy. Start with those PIGS. Sorry, swine. My apologies to the sus family...

[Sarajevo]

The medics get some very valuable training and experience, the rest of the post gets spare ribs and pork roast at chow time.

Back in the day, we used goats at Ft Bragg. The animal is anesthetized to the surgical level and it is maintained there until the procedures are complete. Then, the animal is euthanized without ever regaining consciousness. The training using live tissue donors was excellent.

You wouldn't want to eat the meat after the medics infuse all those drugs in them.

[jwparkerjr]

Yes, it was learned 50 plus years ago that people who drowned in frigid water stood a much better chance of recovery with far fewer problems than those who went down in warm water. And then it was noticed the water didn't have to be all that cold, just cooler than body temp. Too cold and you have only a few minutes to live, but at higher temps it certainly increases your chances of survival.

Once they get your core temp down to TH (therapeutic hypothermia) levels you can be taken out of the suit and you will not be able to rewarm yourself, so they have several hours to do what they need to to do. They give you meds to stop the shivering, all that does is increase the workload on your heart.

There are several ER’s here in Central Florida that use TH on a routine basis with those who are having or have had a heart attack. Some of the results have been pretty spectacular.

They can cool you down in a remote hospital and then fly you to a trauma center by helicopter and it works great.