PETA’s [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] Donation to Help Save Lives, Animal and Human
ANIMAL RIGHTS - VEGETARIANISM, 20 Jan 2014
Donald G. Mcneil Jr. – International New York Times
Jan. 13, 2014 – An animal welfare group is donating $1 million worth of costly training mannequins to medical schools in nine countries to accomplish two goals: giving doctors more modern training, and saving the lives of about 1,000 animals a year.
The mannequins, called surgical simulators, are used in 98 percent of the trauma medicine courses in the United States offered by the American College of Surgeons; students use them, for example, to practice cutting holes between ribs to insert chest tubes.
But because each mannequin can cost $24,000 and needs regular replacement of its $100 simulated skin, many medical schools in poorer countries cannot afford them, said Justin Goodman, an official at the welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Instead, they practice on pigs, goats, sheep or even stray dogs.
Students don’t like hurting the animals, he said, and in small surveys say they would rather use a simulator.
PETA got the Simulab Corporation, which makes TraumaMan, the most popular simulator, to make a cheaper version. Its skin does not exude fake blood and its lungs are powered by a foot pedal instead of an electric pump.
The company cut its mannequin price to PETA by about half, so the group will donate 64 mannequins to medical schools in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Mongolia, Panama and Trinidad. The schools will be able to buy replacement skins for about $30, Mr. Goodman added.
A version of this article appears in print on January 14, 2014, on page D5 of the New York edition with the headline: A Donation to Help Save Human Animal Lives.
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