20 Questions for Suspended Animation, Inc. (SA)

(What follows is a reprint of my August 13, 2009 Cold Filter post. http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1250167128/20+Questions+for+SA

I did forward the questions to Catherine Baldwin, the manager of Suspended Animation, Inc., at two separate email addresses from which she is known to respond. In all fairness, I have yet to forward the questions to Bill and Saul, mainly because I just haven't taken the time to dig out their contact info. I do fully intend to make sure they each receive a copy of my questions.)

Recently, someone on this forum suggested that inquiring directly, to SA, might result in the answers to some of our questions, so I've decided to do just that. I'm sending the following questions to Catherine Baldwin, Saul Kent and Bill Faloon:

1. What are the names and qualifications of the Suspended Animation (SA) staff members, and why is this information not available on SA's website?

2. Are any of the SA staff members reluctant to have their names associated with cryonics?

3. Are any SA staff members proficient at femoral cannulation and/or perfusion? If so, please name these people and produce their relevant experience. (Proficiency requires extensive, supervised clinical experiences, on human patients.)

4. How many medical professionals does SA have on retainer, and are any of them are contractually required to respond, when "on call," for cases? (By "respond," I mean show up for the case, not answer their phone and say they can't come.)

5. Why does the management of SA think it is wise to attempt to train layman to perform advanced medical procedures, when their budget would easily allow for qualified professionals?

6. Does the management of SA believe it is acceptable to often rely on outside help, (such as funeral directors who may, or may not, be available for each case, or may not always be cooperative), or do they agree it would be preferable to have staff members capable of performing the core medical procedures needed for the washout procedure, (femoral cannulation and perfusion)?

7. What does SA do with 240 man-hours per week, and only a handful of cases, per year?

8. Does SA management track the cost of "research" projects, such as the Autopulse project, including man-hours?

9. Did anyone at SA really believe a DIY project, such as the Autopulse project, involving that length of time, and that amount of money, could compete with companies such as Medtronic, which has now produced the battery-powered "Lucas 2"?

10. At any time, prior to starting, (or even during), this very expensive project, did anyone associated with SA pick up the phone and contact the manufacturers of the Autopulse, and all of its competitors, to see if anyone was working on, (or would be willing to work on), a battery-powered version of such a device?

11. What lab experiments have been carried out at SA, if any, and what were the results?

12. Does the management of SA agree that the images on the SA website are somewhat deceptive, (especially the images of the lab experiment on the home page, and the surgical image on the "Vitrification" page)?

13. Why are the News Bulletins so infrequent, and why do the Case Reports take so long to be released? (See question seven.)

14. Why was the last detailed SA case report authored by two non-medical professionals who were not even present for the case, (which was carried out by three laymen with no medical experience, whatsoever)?

15. Who is writing the reports for the recent Alcor/SA case and the CI-95 case?

16. Will those reports contain the names and qualifications of attending personnel, the length of time taken for cannulation, the number of incisions made, and full perfusion reports that contain flow rates and pressures, volume delivered, volume returned, etc.?

17. Will the CI-95 case contain an explanation of the seemingly unreasonable amount of time involved in the procedure?

18. Do local codes permit dead bodies to be brought into the SA facility, for procedures?

19. Is it legal for laymen and/or EMT-Basics, (who have little-to-no field experience, following their brief EMT-B training), to attempt to carry out advanced medical procedures on dead bodies, in SA's Boynton Beach, Florida facility? (Or, anywhere else, for that matter?)

20. Does the management of SA think it is reasonable/ethical to charge $60K to have unqualified, inexperienced persons attempt to carry out well-established medical procedures that professionals could consistently perform, without error?

These are questions I've been asking for nearly three years, now, (since not long after I became a fulltime employee, at SA), and I would really like to know the answers. All this "disgruntled employee," "personal vendetta" nonsense is just that. I simply don't like to see medical procedures with which I am very experienced being bastardized the way they have been. It's time for people in cryonics to quit acting so ignorantly, and irresponsibly, especially those companies that are so generously funded. While it is certainly questionable as to whether cryonics efforts will ever be successful, I believe it is an experiment worth undertaking, (pun unintended), and I don't understand why cryonics care providers are not people who can perform femoral cannulations and perfusion, without inflicting more harm than necessary, (especially when the salaries of the unqualified care providers are often comparable to, or even more generous than, those of their qualified counterparts).

"Primum non nocere"..."First, do no harm."