II 

114TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 587 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2015 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and 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, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 through Superior Training Practices Act’’ or ‘‘BEST 

6 Practices Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 587 IS

1 (1) The Department of Defense has made im2 pressive strides in the development and use of meth3 ods of medical training and troop protection, such as 

4 the use of tourniquets and improvements in body 

5 armor, that have led to decreased battlefield fatali6 ties. 

7 (2) The Department of Defense uses more than 

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

9 medics, corpsmen, and other personnel methods of 

10 responding to severe battlefield injuries. 

11 (3) The civilian sector has almost exclusively 

12 phased in the use of superior human-based training 

13 methods for numerous medical procedures currently 

14 taught in military courses using animals. 

15 (4) Human-based medical training methods 

16 such as simulators replicate human anatomy and 

17 can allow for repetitive practice and data collection. 

18 (5) According to scientific, peer-reviewed lit19 erature, medical simulation increases patient safety 

20 and decreases errors by healthcare providers. 

21 (6) The Army Research, Development and En22 gineering Command and other entities of the De23 partment of Defense have taken significant steps to 

24 develop methods to replace live animal-based train25 ing. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 587 IS

1 (7) According to the report by the Department 

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

3 Animals in Medical Education and Training Joint 

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

5 (A) validated, high-fidelity simulators were 

6 to have been available for nearly every high-vol7 ume or high-value battlefield medical procedure 

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

9 of 2009; and 

10 (B) validated, high-fidelity simulators were 

11 to have been available to teach all other proce12 dures to respond to common battlefield injuries 

13 by 2014. 

14 (8) The Center for Sustainment of Trauma and 

15 Readiness Skills of the Air Force exclusively uses 

16 human-based training methods in its courses and 

17 does not use animals. 

18 (9) In 2013, the Army instituted a policy for19 bidding non-medical personnel from participating in 

20 training courses involving the use of animals. 

21 (10) In 2013, the medical school of the Depart22 ment of Defense, part of the Uniformed Services 

23 University of the Health Sciences, replaced animal 

24 use within its medical student curriculum. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 587 IS

1 (11) The Coast Guard announced in 2014 that 

2 it would reduce by half the number of animals it 

3 uses for combat trauma training courses but stated 

4 that animals would continue to be used in courses 

5 designed for Department of Defense personnel. 

6 (12) Effective January 1, 2015, the Depart7 ment of Defense replaced animal use in six areas of 

8 medical training, including Advanced Trauma Life 

9 Support courses and the development and mainte10 nance of surgical and critical care skills for field 

11 operational surgery and field assessment and skills 

12 tests for international students offered at the De13 fense Institute of Medical Operations. 

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

15 FOR CERTAIN MEDICAL TRAINING. 

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

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new section: 

19 ‘‘§ 2017. Use of human-based methods for certain 

20 medical training 

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

22 than October 1, 2018, the Secretary of Defense shall de23 velop, test, and validate human-based training methods for 

24 the purpose of training members of the Armed Forces in 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 587 IS

1 the treatment of combat trauma injuries with the goal of 

2 replacing live animal-based training methods. 

3 ‘‘(2) Not later than October 1, 2020, the Secretary— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall only use human-based training meth5 ods for the purpose of training members of the 

6 Armed Forces in the treatment of combat trauma 

7 injuries; and 

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

9 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR PARTICULAR COMMANDS AND

10 TRAINING METHODS.—(1) The Secretary may exempt a 

11 particular command, particular training method, or both, 

12 from the requirement for human-based training methods 

13 under subsection (a)(2) if the Secretary determines that 

14 human-based training methods will not provide an educa15 tionally equivalent or superior substitute for live animal16 based training methods for such command or training 

17 method, as the case may be. 

18 ‘‘(2) Any exemption under this subsection shall be for 

19 such period, not more than one year, as the Secretary shall 

20 specify in granting the exemption. Any exemption may be 

21 renewed (subject to the preceding sentence). 

22 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORTS.—(1) Not later than October 

23 1, 2016, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall sub24 mit to the congressional defense committees a report on 

25 the development and implementation of human-based 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 587 IS

1 training methods for the purpose of training members of 

2 the Armed Forces in the treatment of combat trauma inju3 ries under this section. 

4 ‘‘(2) Each report under this subsection on or after 

5 October 1, 2020, shall include a description of any exemp6 tion under subsection (b) that is in force as the time of 

7 such report, and a current justification for such exemp8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

11 severe injuries likely to occur during combat, includ12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(A) hemorrhage; 

14 ‘‘(B) tension pneumothorax; 

15 ‘‘(C) amputation resulting from blast in16 jury; 

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

18 ‘‘(E) other injuries. 

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

20 means, with respect to training individuals in med21 ical treatment, the use of systems and devices that 

22 do not use animals, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) simulators; 

24 ‘‘(B) partial task trainers; 

25 ‘‘(C) moulage; 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 587 IS

1 ‘‘(D) simulated combat environments; 

2 ‘‘(E) human cadavers; and 

3 ‘‘(F) rotations in civilian and military trau4 ma centers. 

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

6 training aids that allow individuals to learn or prac7 tice specific medical procedures.’’. 

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

9 at the beginning of chapter 101 of such title is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘2017. Use of human-based methods for certain medical training.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS