Alcor News

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.

Posted by D'Bora at 5:04 PM | Permalink

The next Board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2010, at the Alcor facility (7895 East Acoma Drive in Scottsdale, AZ) at 11:00 AM (MT). Members and the public are encouraged to attend.

Posted by D'Bora at 5:24 PM | Permalink

The CEO Search Committee has selected seven applicants to interview. Out of the seven applicants contacted, six are available for interviews.

Posted by D'Bora at 5:23 PM | Permalink

Team Training
The Southern California Regional Response Team received a two-day training session in December. The focus of this session was to provide hands-on training with the equipment in their new response kits. These new kits are streamlined and simplified versions of their predecessors and the feedback has been very positive. Highly technical procedures needing unrealistic amounts of training and experience for volunteers to become proficient have been replaced with more fundamental tools and processes that even the most timid volunteer would feel comfortable in performing. A big thanks to Peter Voss and Louise Gold for providing the training location and hosting the CryoFeast that was held in conjunction with the weekend.

Watch List
There are currently seven members on Alcor's "Orange Alert" watch list. This list is comprised of members who are diagnosed with a terminal condition; who are undergoing a non-elective surgical procedure; or whose health is severely compromised due to an underlying medical condition. Frequent communication with these members is essential.

This "partnership" in sharing medical information, between the member and Alcor, enables the Deployment Committee to better evaluate the seriousness of the condition and to determine the appropriate level of monitoring and/or action by Alcor.

Posted by D'Bora at 5:20 PM | Permalink

Membership
Alcor had 913 members on its Emergency Responsibility List. Seven (7) memberships were approved during this month, no memberships were reinstated, one (1) membership was cancelled and one member was cryopreserved. Overall, there was a net gain of five (5) members this month.

Applicant
Alcor had 67 applicants for membership. Four (4) new applicants were added, seven (7) applicants were converted to members and one applicant was cancelled resulting in net loss of 4 applicants for this month.

Information Packets
Alcor received 220 information packets were requested this month, 14 were handed out during facility tours or from special request. The average total of 188 info packs sent per month in 2009 is compared to 173 in 2008.

Posted by D'Bora at 5:17 PM | Permalink

Tampa, FL -- December 3rd, 2009
Alcor received emergency notification that a member had passed away, alone, at home.

A relative of his had become concerned with an absence of communication and requested assistance from local police to perform a welfare check. The family's worst fears were confirmed when authorities found the individual had passed away, possibly one or two days prior. As the family was aware and supportive of his desire to be cryopreserved, they notified Alcor. They also informed Alcor that police were taking the body to the medical examiner for an autopsy to be performed, due to the individual's relatively young age.

We attempted to contact the medical examiner's office to explain that he had donated his body to Alcor and that his release was a time sensitive matter. We asked that he be kept as cold as possible and explained that he did not want to be autopsied. We were informed that a full autopsy was likely to take place the next day, so we immediately began working with legal counsel in an attempt to avoid or limit the autopsy, especially with respect to the individual’s brain, and expedite release.

Alcor immediately sent Transport Coordinator Aaron Drake to Tampa to begin logistical preparations and to have a representative on site, if needed. The death was deemed suspicious and, after some consultation with the medical examiner's office, our legal counsel indicated the only way to avoid the autopsy was to obtain a court order. We proceeded to file our legal pleading and an expedited hearing was held the next week. While the legal proceedings took longer than preferred, our member was kept very cold through the duration. In the end, the medical examiner's office fulfilled the legal obligations of their office by performing only a limited autopsy that did not include the brain, releasing the patient to Alcor thereafter.

Suspended Animation relieved Aaron in Florida, so he could conduct the previously scheduled Southern California team training, and assisted in the preparation and shipping of our patient to Alcor in Scottsdale, AZ. Member A-2219 is now our 89th patient. A full case report will be issued.

Posted by D'Bora at 4:16 PM | Permalink