Rep. Johnson, Sen. Wyden reintroduce bipartisan BEST Practices Act

Press Release

Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) reintroduced a bipartisan bill today addressing the use of live animals in military battlefield trauma training exercises. The Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act of 2015 (H.R. 1095 ) or BEST Practices Act, phases out the use of animals in live combat trauma training courses over five years.

Sen. Ron Wyden (OR) submitted the corresponding Senate bill. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is an original co-sponsor of the House bill.

"The BEST Practices Act gives the Department of Defense the nudge it needs to completely phase out its use of animal-based training in favor of human-based simulator technologies that have made great strides recently," said Rep. Johnson. "It's clear that using live pigs and goats in this kind of training isn't necessary, and 98 percent of civilian trauma programs agree."

"BEST is the best of all possible worlds -- it improves training, eliminates animal suffering, modernizes medical training and saves taxpayers money," added Johnson.

According to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the U.S. military uses more than 8,500 animals every year in its combat trauma training courses.

"The anatomy of a pig or goat is different from a human, and it leads to substandard training," says John Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C., director of academic affairs at the Physicians Committee. "Ninety-eight percent of civilian trauma training programs exclusively use non-animal methods. These high-tech devices replicate human anatomy and allow trainees to repeatedly practice critical procedures."

"Our soldiers deserve nothing less than medics with access to the most modern, effective training available. Killing live animals is unnecessary and counterproductive when better methods of training are already being used," Wyden said. "This bill makes sure our military medics are trained using the newest -- and best -- technology on the market so they know exactly what to do when it counts."

Civilian trauma center directors have found that operating on an anesthetized, unconscious goat or pig doesn't adequately prepare medical professionals for treating human traumas. Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates the same. Many studies have found that simulators are as good or better at training doctors for real-world situations.

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