In what has become the busiest 12 months of any previous year in Alcor’s history, we have cryopreserved three additional members during this past month of June.

A-2371, who maintained confidentiality with respect to his membership, resided in Cleveland, Ohio. Alcor initiated an eight-day standby when the member fell critically ill during the month of May. The standby ended when the member’s condition improved and he was inevitably discharged from the hospital. Roughly a month later however, the individual returned to the hospital and was placed on life support. When all efforts to correct his medical issues had failed the family made the decision to discontinue all supportive measures. Anticipating that this action would result in clinical death, the family preferred to wait until the entire team and equipment were in place at the member’s bedside.

Suspended Animation was requested to join Alcor’s Aaron Drake, already on standby, for a full deployment. All team members, including a board certified veterinary vascular surgeon and perfusionist, were in place prior to discontinuing the life support. The member’s health continued to decline for another 18 hours before he was pronounced by hospital staff. Immediate stabilization, cool down and a field washout were performed and the patient was shipped to Alcor by air ambulance. We achieved full perfusion of the brain and an estimated net perfusion of 95%, including the body. On June 11th, A-2371 becomes our 96th patient.
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A-1556, who remains temporarily confidential at the request of the family, was suffering with end-stage dementia in California. The family moved their father to Scottsdale to be close to Alcor in his final days. After a short stay in the hospital, physicians determined the individual could no longer eat or drink and that hospice care was the best option. The member was transferred to a hospice facility that is located only ten minutes from Alcor’s facilities, and a standby was established.

Aaron Drake and various members of Arizona’s response team, along with Sandra Russell from Critical Care Research, rotated shifts over the course of the next six days until the member was pronounced. Immediate bedside stabilization and cool down began with the member being transferred by Alcor’s Rescue Vehicle to a waiting surgical team at Alcor Central. Cryoprotection procedures ensued and we achieved terminal perfusion. On June 24th, A-1556 became Alcor’s 97th patient.
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Alcor member Dr. Darius Nelson, A-2158, practiced medicine in Southern California. He had long suffered from prostate cancer that generated a roller coaster of health issues. While not ill enough to launch a standby, Darius’ health was fragile and Alcor felt it was prudent to pre-position a mini-med kit at his home a few months ago. This was due to his specific circumstances – 24 hour nursing care and cryonics friends that lived close by – both who were willing to assist in administering the medications in the event of an unexpected clinical death.

On Sunday morning, June 27th, after appearing to have a very good day with respect to his health, Darius stopped breathing. His health care provider immediately called Alcor’s emergency number upon confirming his condition and also contacted a local Alcor member who was a close personal friend of Darius. Within the hour, he was pronounced, the pre-positioned medications were administered and the patient was immersed in ice. A local mortuary was called and they transferred the patient to Critical Care Research (CCR) while Southern California team members delivered the remaining med kit. Dr. Harris and his team administered the remaining medications, performed a washout and prepped the patient for transport.

We were faced with a potential straight freeze of this patient because the vital statistics office would not open for another day. To avoid this outcome, we chose to modify our typical whole body surgical procedure. CCR performed a washout on the entire body and isolated the cephalon for immediate transport to Alcor via air ambulance. The trunk was then perfused by CCR, placed on dry ice, and transported to Alcor after the transfer permit was obtained.

Technically we achieved terminal perfusion on both the cephalon and the trunk. However, we remain concerned that the cephalon perfusion statistically appeared less than optimal. Darius is now Alcor’s 98th patient.

This past February, one of the original founders of Suspended Animation, Inc., and long time member of Alcor, David Hayes, suffered a seizure at his home in Florida. As the seizure was witnessed, 911 were called and David was taken to the local Emergency Department. He was pronounced when efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

Due to David’s youthful age of 46, his clinical death was referred to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s office. Alcor initially tried to prevent the autopsy from occurring, however the medical examiner said he was obligated under the law to perform the autopsy unless the court said otherwise. Through legal counsel, Alcor was successful in negotiating with the courts to allow for a virtual autopsy to be performed in place of the typically more invasive procedure. After a CT scan was performed and the medical examiner was satisfied with the results, they agreed to release the body to Suspended Animation, who was working on Alcor’s behalf.

Since three and a half days had elapsed from the time David was pronounced until Alcor received custody of the body, it was decided that a dry ice shipment through commercial airlines was the best option. Suspended Animation made the arrangements, prepared the shipment and David arrived in Scottsdale the following day. David Hayes (A-1712L) became Alcor’s 92nd patient.

Chihiro Asaumi (Yumi, A-2361), a member of Alcor for about two years, had relocated with her husband to the Scottsdale area. Suffering from metastatic breast cancer, her condition had worsened, apparently after a change in her medication. With surgical intervention no longer an option, she was accepted by Hospice of the Valley on an outpatient basis in late March.

Until Yumi met the requirements for inpatient care, hospice nurses regularly visited her at home. During this time, we communicated almost daily with her husband and the hospice personnel. When it became apparent Yumi had transitioned to the “active dying process,” her husband transferred her to inpatient care at a facility, located about 10 minutes from Alcor central.

The evening before her transfer, we launched a standby, which ultimately lasted four days. She was pronounced on April 14th with the Alcor standby team at her bedside. The emergency stabilization process was begun immediately following pronouncement, and she arrived at Alcor 40 minutes later. She is now in long-term care as Alcor’s 93rd patient.

Templeton, CA — January 25th, 2010
Alcor received emergency notification that the mother of one our members had tragically died as a result of a house fire. Apparently, a space heater within the home had caused a small fire. While attempting to douse the fire, it spread out of control and she was unable to contain it. We believe she suffered a heart attack and collapsed as she exited the home. There was some burn trauma to the patient, however it was limited to the lower half of her body.

While her son is an Alcor member and her former husband has already been cryopreserved, she had not actively signed up for membership during her lifetime. Upon learning of the incident, the son wanted to provide his mother with one final gift, and immediately began to pursue signing her up through a third party membership. This requires Alcor Board approval and has to meet specific requirements before a vote is taken to grant the request. While this process takes some time to complete, it was handled on an emergency basis to prevent unnecessary delays. Another obstacle to overcome, due to the legal implications of her death, was the medical examiner is required to ensure that no foul play had been involved. The son persuaded the medical examiner to limit the scope of the autopsy to an external Commuted Tomography (CT) scan of the brain. This satisfied the legal requirements of the county while maintaining the structural integrity of the patient’s brain.

In anticipation of being granted authority to receive the patient, Alcor deployed Transport Coordinator Aaron Drake along with the equipment needed to prepare and transport her back to Alcor. Since that county’s medical examiner completes his work at the various funeral homes, rather than at one central location, the patient was maintained at a temperature of 35 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the process, thus limiting the amount of ischemia that occurs in comparison to a normothermic environment. As there were no major airports near the rural community that could handle large cargo, the decision was made to drive the individual back to Alcor. Although the legal process was expedited, it became clear that enough time had elapsed that a straight freeze was the only option remaining, due to accumulating blood coagulation and loss of vascular integrity. Once final approval was given, the patient was packaged in dry ice and transported to Scottsdale, AZ.

Member A-2469 is now our 90th patient. A full case report will be issued.

Phoenix, AZ–August 9, 2009
Alcor was contacted by a member who informed us that his wife, also an Alcor member, had become gravely ill and they were traveling to Mexico for specialized treatments, in an attempt to extend her life. In the event that their efforts became futile, they intended to return to the United States and fly directly to Scottsdale to be near Alcor for the remaining days of her life.

Alcor’s deployment committee kept in close contact with the family along with her medical providers in the U.S. and abroad. Her physicians were aware of her cryopreservation directives and eventually determined that her time would be better spent getting closer to Alcor rather than continuing treatment and risk potential delays while crossing the U.S. border, after clinical death.

The family arrived in Scottsdale by Air Ambulance while Alcor facilitated her direct admittance into a cryonic’s friendly hospice provider in the Phoenix valley.

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