With so many efforts implemented and shared in attempts to stop animal cruelty nationwide, I feel appalled that some facilities still engage animals in laboratories and universities for testing and study purposes. Such is the case at the University of Washington. You can read more about the use of animals in paramedic training https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=4538047387632A08CD8307BBC52D1228.app268b?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=880&autologin=true
The University of Washington is allegedly still using live animals in their paramedic training programs, such as live pigs in order to instruct on the procedure of surgical airway to paramedics and flight nurses. Rather than using animals for training purposes, experts have been working to encourage human-based training methods as is used to teach emergency airway procedures. When using live animals like these pigs, the procedure as described in the article states that “it involves making an incision in the throat of a live pig to insert a breathing tube. This procedure is performed up to six times by multiple trainees on each pig. At the end of each training session, the animal is killed.”
The effort of this petition is to encourage University of Washington officials to replace the use of live animals in their paramedic training program with human-relevant methods. You can join in this mission by signing and sharing this petition, adding your own thoughts and comments on such a crucial issue.
Ana Mari Cauce, Ph.D., President, University of Washington, School of Medicine dean Paul G. Ramsey, M.D., and Paramedic Training Program director David J. Carlbom, M.D., – I strongly urge you to replace the use of live animals in their paramedic training program with human-relevant methods. Your school is one of very few that uses live animals in school curriculum and most have opted for human-related methods of teaching. Ensure that you ban any future use of live animals in teaching your students which is a clear case of animal cruelty and abuse.
