Military Chemical Casualty Care Training on Monkeys

Seizures, breathing difficulty, and possible death: The vervet monkeys used in the militarys chemical casualty care training experience horrific symptoms. The animals are given a toxic dose of the drug physostigmine in an exercise designed to simulate the effects of a nerve agent attack. The exercise—which takes place at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland—is demonstrated in the video obtained by PCRM through the Freedom of Information Act. Using monkeys in this exercise is profoundly inhumane, and it also distracts military personnel from the real-world, clinically valid training they need to treat chemical casualties.