X-Message-Number: 624 Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 15:26:09 PST From: ghsvax! (Hal Finney) Subject: Cryonics - Visit to Alcor My wife and I visited Alcor last weekend when we drove down to L.A. I thought people here might be interested in a report on the visit: I found the visit to Alcor to be helpful and informative. Carlos Mondragon, president of Alcor, showed my wife and me around, and Steve Harris showed up later to visit for a while. I have subscribed to Cryonics magazine for several years, so I knew that their facilities were small and that the organization is frequently short on cash, but in general I thought they had done quite well with what they had. They seemed to have a lot of equipment, older models, but still professional quality. They have a regular operating table with a heart-lung machine; it looked like they could probably do surgeries there if they wanted to. They can do real-time X-rays and blood gas measurements. It was clear that they care very much about the quality of what they do and that they are very sincerely trying to do the best suspensions possible. We also got to see the containment vessels where the people are kept. I was impressed by the sheer size of the massive storage containers. The containers are all alarmed in case of a loss of coolant; a technician is on-site at all times, and Carlos and other officers are automatically notified via an auto-dialing system and beepers if there is a problem. One thing I found interesting is that they have reduced the boil-off rate to where the containers only have to be "topped up" with liquid nitrogen every few days. It was clear that the actual maintenance of the suspendees takes very little time and effort. They could easily handle many times the 20 patients (counting neuropatients) they have in suspension, with just a little more room needed. Alcor is having some problems now, with the loss of two key people, but Carlos was very forthright about that and it was clear that he had plans to address the problems, and ideas about how to keep from becoming so dependent on one or two people again. I was very pleased to see that Carlos was thinking ahead like that. Sometimes from reading the magazine I'd gotten the impression that the organization tended to lurch from crisis to crisis. They also cleared up two specific points which had been holding me back from signing up: first, I had heard that the paperwork load was horrendous; and second, I was concerned that the price of suspension might keep going up and up and up and that if I couldn't afford it I would end up losing all my investment. Carlos explained that the paperwork has gotten much simpler than it once was. Now, you fill out a questionairre, then you basically have just three required forms. There are other forms that are optional which cover some other details, like informing your doctor of your wishes, but that can be done later. Carlos also talked about the money situation. He has some ideas which will be published soon in Cryonics which I won't try to go into here, to provide some protection for members against future price increases. He also pointed out that, if we did sign up and then change our minds, that my life insurance investment would basically belong to me; I'd only be out the ~$288 per year (I forget the exact number, but it was less than I spend now to belong to a gym) for the dues. Carlos also emphasized that the patient care fund was extremely solvent, and that their funding problems have to do solely with supporing the office staff and the day-to-day running of the organization. I'm very happy that they have the self-control to avoid dipping into the patient care fund, as that must present a constant temptation to them. In general, I felt that this visit addressed the main concerns that my wife and I had about signing up. I need to talk to her about it a little more, but I think we will probably go ahead with it. One unexpected bonus is that it looks like we can sign up our kids for relatively little extra; their Alcor dues are 25% normal once we sign up, and life insurance rates should be cheap for them. (I feel a little bad that all you young single people are subsidizing these lower rates for me, but after all, statistically speaking, Alcor should not have to suspend my kids for a long time, if ever. In my personal opinion, anyone born today has a better than 50-50 chance of living effectively forever, with expected lifespan increasing faster than their age.) Hal Finney hal% Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=624