by David Flude – CUK Organiser (edited by Veronique Struis)
On May 3 & 4 British support group, Cryonics UK (CUK) held their annual meeting as part of a 2 day training meeting. Both CI and Alcor members attended the meeting, which marked big changes in the British organisation. After 18 years as Training Manager, Alan Sinclair decided to step down as Training Manager, but he is staying on as CUK President & Team Consultant. To thank him for his long-term contribution Alan was made a Lifetime President of CUK.
During the annual meeting CUK introduced a new policy of involving all members in the decision making process and increasing the number of committee officers managing the CUK. The committee has been nearly doubled & the following officers were elected:
President for Life – Alan Sinclair
Secretary & Webmaster – Mark Walker
Treasurer – Graham Hipkiss
Membership Manager – Mark Willis
Organiser – David Flude
Team Leader – Mark Walker
2nd Team Leader – TBA
The officers gave their yearly reports during the meeting in which Mark Walker outlined his plans for new sub committees to empower ordinary members, Alan Sinclair highlighted one of the main problems with the current transport vehicle, Mark Willis gave a description of the new CUK Membership database he has created and David Flude suggested that the whole emphasis of the group should change to gain momentum from the Life Extension movement, rather than just as a Cryonics Standby Team.
After the annual meeting Mark Willis and his fiancée Jan, using her experience as a Hospital Nurse, guided the group through Communicable Diseases training module.
On the second day, a complete emergency response was practiced, starting with the first phone call, to loading the CUK Ambulance with Ice, Meds, Equipment and driving down the road, to assembling the portable ice bath, lifting Randy the Dummy into it, placing the squid, ice & thumper, etc.
Part of the new policy also has been the re-introduction of social activities and talks. David Flude and Bill Reeves led off with “New Objection to Autopsy Cards & Donor USB Devices”, for which thanks go to Alcor employee Mike Perry and David Pizer of the Society for Venturism for supplying us with these cards. The card has already been useful in one case where a member went into a Glasgow hospital for a week long check up, and the Nurse not only loaded it onto the ward PC but seemed genuinely interested and asked his permission to keep a permanent copy.
David Flude gave another talk on the UK transport options, outlining the choices as CUK standby Team, F.A. Albin & Sons, Ambulance Services, or Hybrid Teams led by a Paid Professional, such as a Retired Doctor or Veterinarian. David singled out CI’s Representatives in the UK – F.A. Albin & Sons as a unique ongoing experiment to popularise Cryonics, and praised Albins for their professionalism, suggesting much closer contact & co-operation in the future.
A further talk on “Life Extension & the Growth of Cryonics” gave guesstimates of the past, present (around 1,700 members) & future growth of the whole worldwide Cryonics movement. The final talk on Sunday morning was much more enjoyable & relaxing because it was called “Wine can Extend Your Life”. Focusing on well known Centenarians who drank wine such as Jean Calment who lived to 122, and then moving on to the numerous live extending properties of red wine and its chemical derivative Resveratrol, David quoted a lot of recent research from Harvard Medical School, Italy, France & Denmark that supports moderate but regular consumption of some Red Wines such as Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon. This all was put into practice with several bottles of red wine and a delicious lunch courtesy of Sylvia Sinclair.
The Agenda for the next 12 months has been fixed. All meetings will be in Peacehaven, except the September meeting in the West Country which has to be decided. The next meeting will be in September (dates to be confirmed), December 13 & 14, then in 2009 the Easter weekend.
For more information about Cryonics UK please contact David Flude the CUK Organizer at
david.flude114@googlemail.com
