I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1243 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense 

to use only human-based methods for training members of the Armed 

Forces in the treatment of severe combat injuries. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. MARINO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TED

LIEU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. POLIS, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. HIMES, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. POCAN, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CLARK

of Massachusetts, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. SEAN PATRICK

MALONEY of New York, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COSTELLO of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RUSH, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. HASTINGS, and Mr. NOLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to use only human-based methods for 

training members of the Armed Forces in the treatment 

of severe combat injuries. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Battlefield Excellence 

3 through Superior Training Practices Act’’ or the ‘‘BEST 

4 Practices Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress makes the following findings: 

7 (1) The Department of Defense has made im8 pressive strides in the development and use of meth9 ods of medical training and troop protection, such as 

10 the use of tourniquets and improvements in body 

11 armor, that have led to decreased battlefield fatali12 ties. 

13 (2) The Department of Defense uses more than 

14 8,500 live animals each year to train physicians, 

15 medics, corpsmen, and other personnel methods of 

16 responding to severe battlefield injuries. 

17 (3) The civilian sector has almost exclusively 

18 phased in the use of superior human-based training 

19 methods for numerous medical procedures currently 

20 taught in military courses using animals. 

21 (4) Human-based medical training methods 

22 such as simulators replicate human anatomy and 

23 can allow for repetitive practice and data collection. 

24 (5) According to scientific, peer-reviewed lit25 erature, medical simulation increases patient safety 

26 and decreases errors by healthcare providers. 


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1 (6) The Army Research, Development and En2 gineering Command and other entities of the De3 partment of Defense have taken significant steps to 

4 develop methods to replace live animal-based train5 ing. 

6 (7) According to the report by the Department 

7 of Defense titled ‘‘Final Report on the use of Live 

8 Animals in Medical Education and Training Joint 

9 Analysis Team’’, published on July 12, 2009— 

10 (A) validated, high-fidelity simulators were 

11 to have been available for nearly every high-vol12 ume or high-value battlefield medical procedure 

13 by the end of 2011, and many were available as 

14 of 2009; and 

15 (B) validated, high-fidelity simulators were 

16 to have been available to teach all other proce17 dures to respond to common battlefield injuries 

18 by 2014. 

19 (8) The Center for Sustainment of Trauma and 

20 Readiness Skills of the Air Force exclusively uses 

21 human-based training methods in its courses and 

22 does not use animals. 

23 (9) In 2013, the Army instituted a policy for24 bidding non-medical personnel from participating in 

25 training courses involving the use of animals. 


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1 (10) In 2013, the medical school of the Depart2 ment of Defense, part of the Uniformed Services 

3 University of the Health Sciences, replaced animal 

4 use within its medical student curriculum. 

5 (11) The Coast Guard announced in 2014 that 

6 it would reduce by half the number of animals it 

7 uses for combat trauma training courses but stated 

8 that animals would continue to be used in courses 

9 designed for Department of Defense personnel. 

10 (12) Effective January 1, 2015, the Depart11 ment of Defense replaced animal use in six areas of 

12 medical training, including Advanced Trauma Life 

13 Support courses and the development and mainte14 nance of surgical and critical care skills for field 

15 operational surgery and field assessment and skills 

16 tests for international students offered at the De17 fense Institute of Medical Operations. 

18 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO USE HUMAN-BASED METHODS 

19 FOR CERTAIN MEDICAL TRAINING. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 101 of title 10, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2017. Requirement to use human-based methods 

2 for certain medical training 

3 ‘‘(a) COMBAT TRAUMA INJURIES.—(1) Not later 

4 than October 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall com5 plete the development, testing, and validation of human6 based training methods for the purpose of training mem7 bers of the armed forces in the treatment of combat trau8 ma injuries with the goal of replacing live animal-based 

9 training methods. 

10 ‘‘(2) Not later than October 1, 2022, the Secretary— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall only use human-based training meth12 ods for the purpose of training members of the 

13 armed forces in the treatment of combat trauma in14 juries; and 

15 ‘‘(B) may not use animals for such purpose. 

16 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than October 1, 

17 2018, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

18 to the congressional defense committees a report on the 

19 development and implementation of human-based training 

20 methods for the purpose of training members of the armed 

21 forces in the treatment of combat trauma injuries under 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) The term ‘combat trauma injuries’ means 

25 severe injuries likely to occur during combat, includ26 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) hemorrhage; 

2 ‘‘(B) tension pneumothorax; 

3 ‘‘(C) amputation resulting from blast in4 jury; 

5 ‘‘(D) compromises to the airway; and 

6 ‘‘(E) other injuries. 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘human-based training methods’ 

8 means, with respect to training individuals in med9 ical treatment, the use of systems and devices that 

10 do not use animals, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) simulators; 

12 ‘‘(B) partial task trainers; 

13 ‘‘(C) moulage; 

14 ‘‘(D) simulated combat environments; 

15 ‘‘(E) human cadavers; and 

16 ‘‘(F) rotations in civilian and military trau17 ma centers. 

18 ‘‘(3) The term ‘partial task trainers’ means 

19 training aids that allow individuals to learn or prac20 tice specific medical procedures.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

22 at the beginning of chapter 101 of title 10, United States 

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 item: 

‘‘2017. Requirement to use human-based methods for certain medical training.’’. 

Æ 


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