Billboards Throughout San Antonio Urge Army To End Use Of Animals In Medic Training

The doctors point out that goats, which are used in training, don’t make good substitutes for human patients.

By Carson FrameFebruary 9, 2018 9:30 am, , , ,

From Texas Public Radio:

A national health nonprofit, with around 12,000 doctor members, has installed three billboards in San Antonio that call for the Army to change its combat medic training by ending live animal use.

The billboards from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine are meant to shine light on a little-known aspect of military medicine, says Dr. Robert DeMuth, a former Army surgeon who came to San Antonio on behalf of the organization.

“They basically show a goat that has an Army uniform superimposed on it, and it’s chewing on some straw. It basically says that goats make lousy soldiers,” he says.

At Fort Sam Houston, medics in training use goats and pigs as models to practice different procedures. In 2017, the Army Medical Department Center and School trained 2,409 soldiers using live tissue training.

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