Number 5
September 16, 2005
Staff Changes
Cryonics requires such a wide range of knowledge and abilities, it’s a constant challenge to perform all the necessary functions with just five fulltime staff members. Our interests at Suspended Animation are spread across three completely separate categories: Development work, which requires analytical skills in conjunction with prototype design and fabrication; standby/transport work, which requires medical knowledge and an emergency-responder mindset; and standby maintenance work, which entails ordering a very diverse range of supplies and maintaining them in meticulous order while building standby kits and tubing circuits.
Increasingly we have been relying on independent contractors who help us on an occasional basis. This is especially appropriate for standby/transport activities, which may occur only a few times per year and require staff who gain satisfaction from responding to emergencies and are not particularly happy during long interim periods when equipment must be refurbished, inventoried, and repacked. Our independent emergency responders now outnumber our fulltime staff by about 5 to 1 (see Agreement with EEII, below).
Meanwhile our fulltime staff must still be multi-talented generalists, and with great pleasure we can announce that we have reached a formal agreement to hire someone who fits that description perfectly.
Mathew Sullivan to Join Suspended Animation
Mathew is an Alcor member who began working in cryonics almost nine years ago, when he was hired by Fred and Linda Chamberlain. He has extensive experience in cryonics, especially in perfusion procedures and standby kit maintenance. His practical background is probably unmatched by anyone currently active in cryonics today. He has a creative intellect and his dedication to achieving higher standards is beyond question. Early in August he notified Alcor that he wished to resign from his position there, and his last day at Alcor was September 1st. We are very pleased that he has chosen to move to Florida on a permanent basis. His precise job title at SA has not been determined, but his primary interest is the development of our vitrification capability.
Departure of Robert Pruss
With regret we have to report that Robert Pruss has decided to leave us after just over a year as our Mechanical Engineer. Robert tells us that he gradually reached the conclusion that a full-time engineer was not entirely appropriate to our needs, and he has found a position elsewhere, developing new consumer products for a small startup company. Robert’s departure has been very amicable, and he emphasizes that he wants to continue assisting us as an independent contractor in standby/transport work and in the development of LabView control software for tubing circuits. Since LabView programming was the need which led us to Robert initially, we’re pleased that he will be able to continue with this.
During Robert’s year at Suspended Animation he completed a proof-of-concept automated tubing circuit in which pressure is controlled by LabView code running on an ultra-compact computer with a small touch-screen. He rethought many aspects of our packaging of standby equipment, and came up with some highly creative designs. He introduced us to some basic principles of plastic fabrication using ABS, which is ideally suited to medical applications. We now cut, weld, and bend ABS to create components such as our new Air Transportable Perfusion kit, which would have been almost impossible to construct by other means. Robert has been unfailingly good-natured and leaves us with exceptionally detailed documentation describing all the work he has done. He developed a genuine interest in cryonics, and participated productively in a case that we performed a year ago. We look forward to seeing him here from time to time during the months ahead.
We have not decided yet exactly how we should fill the gap that will be created by Robert’s departure. This will be a topic for discussion after Mathew Sullivan has joined our team.
Agreement with EEII
Todd Soard and Sindiana Ortega are joint owners of the Emergency Educational Institute International (EEII) in Coral Springs, Florida, about 25 miles from our facility. When our current general manager, Charles Platt, was responsible for standby/transport capability at Alcor Foundation during 2002, he sought assistance from Todd, who contracted subsequently with Alcor on an exclusive basis. Since then Todd and Sindiana have participated in several cryonics cases. During 2005 they decided to end their exclusive agreement with Alcor and have now signed a nonexclusive contract with Suspended Animation.
The new agreement encourages EEII to find additional paramedics, EMTs, and nurses who may be willing to assist us. Todd has been able to compile a list of ten suitably qualified people in South Florida, and we will be offering training sessions to familiarize them with our equipment and procedures.
We must emphasize that our contract with EEII creates no barriers to prevent it from continuing to serve Alcor members if the principals of the company choose to do so.
Open House at our New Facility
Suspended Animation held its first Open House on August 27th, 2005. Although the summer is an unpopular season for Florida visitors, and hurricane Katrina had roused some concerns, between 25 and 30 people gathered at our facility. (The hurricane made landfall in Miami, at least 70 miles to the south, and did not cause any problems at our location in Boynton Beach.) Suspended Animation employees demonstrated equipment and gave tours of the facility, and one visitor made definite plans to retain us for standby/transport. Although some aspects of our facility are not yet complete, we believe the open house made a very positive impression.
A report, with photographs, has appeared in the current issue of The Immortalist magazine.
Todd Huffman and Peter Voss flew in for the Open House and spent an extra day with us, examining and critiquing our equipment and capabilities. Todd has participated in numerous cryonics cases while Peter is co-coordinator of Alcor’s regional California capability. As a result of their suggestions, we have devised a “mini standby kit” which contains the absolute minimum of medications and equipment for rapid intervention in situations where legal death is pronounced before our fully equipped team can be deployed. We plan to prepare several of these kits for regions where members of the American Cryonics Society are concentrated, since we are potentially on call for any ACS member who experiences a health emergency and requests our help.
Near-Future Plans
Our two most urgent priorities are to acquire a new local transport vehicle and begin work on our in-house perfusion circuit, which will be semi-automated and will eventually lead to vitrification capability. In the meantime we are continuing with smaller projects such as the ultra-collapsible portable ice bath (now very close to completion), a new medications packaging system (one week from completion), and some smaller accessories. Our medications list has been revised slightly after consultation with Critical Care Research, and we are in the process of creating new meds kits. We have set up a instruction area to familiarize visitors with our equipment, and we expect to start offering classes in October.
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