X-Message-Number: 29538 From: Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 00:06:09 EDT Subject: Deanimation near Cryo Facility -- Practical even from Austral... Content-Language: en Deanimation near Cryo Facility -- Practicalities At the conference in Fort Lauderdale Dr. F. said he had examined fresh rabbit brain that had been perfused with organ preservation solution and held at 0 C for 12 hours. This is about the best we can hope for if we deanimate far from a cryonics facility. But his examination showed the fine brain structure still looked bad. We could only hope nanotechnology can do wonders in such a case. To me this means that SA should concentrate on doing vitrification on the spot. And we should concentrate on deanimating next to CI or Alcor. I have been studying this option and learned encouraging things. Deanimation near a facility We need to get there. Most people think that's the hard part. So I put my mouth where my mouth is and called U.S. Air Ambulance -- Usairambulance.net, (800) 948-1214 -- where a helpful, intelligent and very knowledgeable gentleman answered all questions. You may travel by yourself provided you don't look so bad that the airline fears they will have to divert the plane when you get sick. If you look too bad the gate agent may not let you board. A frail old person in a wheelchair is OK. But if you're alone, flight attendants will not help you get to the bathroom, due to liability if you should fall. The airline will move you around the airport in a cart and on and off the plane in a wheelchair. Obviously this is cheapest. You can also bring a family member to assist you. You cannot get oxygen this way. First class is an option -- big seats and nearby lavatory. Next cheapest is a ground ambulance with attendant. They give the example of a trip from Florida to New York in 20 hours for $6500-$8500. The patient is lying downand may be on oxygen, but if he or she needs a ventilator the ground ambulance trip is limited to 200 mi. For air escort on a commercial jet, the trip is just six hours but the patient cannot need more than 3 liters of oxygen per minute and must be able to sit up and partially support himself. This is required because patients must sit up during takeoffs and landings. A ventilator is not possible. The cost is $5500-8500. The company does a lot of this money. They document the patient's condition and clear it with the airline so when he turns up with his nurse he is not turned away. They set it up for the airline to provide oxygen. In case of problems, they have contacts and do this all the time. Their nurse can administer an IV. On overseas flights they use first-class tickets for the added room (they may change a diaper in place) and proximity to a lavatory, and so the patient can recline the seat flat and lie down except for takeoff and landing. A step up from this is a stretcher on a commercial jet in cases where the patient can't sit up. It s about twice as expensive, but one can have everything except a ventilator. By light plane, an air-ambulance Cessna, our Florida to New York trip is four hours and $8000-12,000. Oxygen, ventilator, patient lying down, comatose -- all OK. Or it's two to three hours by jet air ambulance, $13,000-17,000. This all this seems feasible and not too expensive. After all, it's $5000 if you expire at home and the mortuary ships you, and $60,000 for SA. I got more good news. This company brings people from Europe all the time. Usually within 24 hours they can get a special visa, provided you are going to die with family members (even extended families) or are coming for medical care. The spokesman thought it would be the same if you were going to a hospice. This is important news, because in past discussions people overseas have said it is very hard to get a US visa, and that the US will not accept sick people, let alone ones who are dying. But it seems this is not so, that the US is more compassionate towards such people, and this is alright. If one flies alone or with a family member from Europe, I asked if U.S. Air Ambulance would for a fee help with those fast visas. The answer was yes, and not only with that but with ticketing etc. "Talk to us." All in all the company was helpful, flexible and reasonable, but I must point out that a Google search brings up many such companies so this may not be the best. And no, I don't own stock in it. That said, I like these people. From Europe, Air Ambulance is expensive, $50,000 - $60,000. Commercial flights, especially unescorted, seem preferable. Ground ambulance is not available. :-) The spokesman also mentioned that you couldn't fly commercial with a communicable disease, like incurable TB. Of course. Costs from Europe: Air Ambulance, London-Detroit, $50-60,000 Stretcher on commercial airliner, same trip, $30,000 Nurse escort, first-class, oxygen etc., $15,000 Nurse escort from Australia, $25,000 A friend died of a brain tumor. When the hospital could do no more they suggested he go home to die, which he did, and he expired about twelve hours later. Time enough to go to a facility. I've seen some other gradual deaths due to cancer and heart failure, and in most cases it would have been easy to get to a facility. Even unescorted, at least up to a few days before the end. CI has a local member who has volunteered to host an expiring member in his home. There are also hospices near both CI and Alcor, and I'm sure that both would arrange transport from the airport. Deanimation may be fairly predictable, and may legally be hastened by the patient deciding that the oxygen should be turned off. I think his Medical Representative, pursuant to his living well, can do the same. It remains to be sure that we know a local doctor who can pronounced death, even at someone's home, and will come when we ask. A retired MD might be ideal. And especially that we have everything set up with the Medical Examiner. Thus we have a good chance of flying to a facility cheaply, and staying for a day or a week or two at small cost at a home or hospice, and upon deanimation receiving immediate pronouncement and swift cooling, perfusion and vitrification. Then we may hope the results would look good to Dr F.! (Since this is public I won't name Dr. F.) Alan From the US Air Ambulance page: Pricing It is always our goal at U.S. Air Ambulance to provide the highest quality service at the lowest possible cost. Price is determined based primarily upon the medical condition of the patient, because this will determine the type of aircraft or ground transportation that will be utilized, the medical supplies to be included, the medical team to be transported, the destination and the urgency of travel. Our Flight Coordinators will talk to you about some of these issues and provide a quote over the phone. In non-emergency situations, we will also gladly send you a written quote explaining all services provided. The price quoted to you is the final price there are no hidden costs. Listed below are a few of the variables considered when we determine a price for your specific trip. Prices are effective January 2007. This is not a definitive listing, but can give you an idea of the cost of our air and ground ambulance services. Aircraft: $3 - $12 per mile, depending on the type of aircraft used Standard Medical Equipment and Supplies: $450 per flight (Isolettes and balloon pumps are extra) Maintenance: $600 per take-off Ground Ambulance: $500 plus $14 per mile Wheelchair Vans: $180 plus $3 per mile Overnight Charges: $300 per crew member per night (some Asian locations are higher) Preparation Costs: $800 (Includes medical evaluation, telephone and aircraft preparation) European Air Traffic Control: $2,500 International Fees/Permits: $800 - $3,800 (You will be billed our actual charges for this) Medical Team Level I: $800 (Critical Care Nurse or Paramedic) Level II: $1,600 (Critical Care Nurse and Paramedic) Level III: $2,200 (Respiratory Therapist plus Critical Care Nurse or Paramedic) Level IV: $4,100 (Doctor plus Critical Care Nurse and Paramedic) Here are approximate times and costs from Florida to New York depending on the type of transport requested: Train Escort or Ground Ambulance(patient is lying down) 20 Hours $6,500 - $8,500 Air Escort (patient is sitting) 6 Hours $5,500 - $8,500 Cessna 4 Hours $8,000 - $12,000 King Air 3 Hours $13,000 - $15,000 Learjet or Gulfstream 2 Hours $14,000 - $17,000 Going across the country, from California to Virginia for example, the time and costs would look something like this: Train Escort (patient is lying down) 4 Days $11,000 - $12,000 Air Escort (patient is sitting) 8 Hours $7,500 - $9,500 Cessna 10 Hours $13,000 - $17,000 King Air 8 Hours $16,000 - $22,000 Learjet or Gulfstream 5 Hours $20,000 - $28,000 Please call us today at 1-800-948-1214 or send an email to _ (mailto:) to receive a quote based on your specific needs. Our Flight Coordinators and Case Managers are available to help you 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29538