When asked what he thought the chances are that cryonics will some day reanimate a frozen patient, Robert Ettinger answered well, they are not good. nor are they bad. They are simply unknown." From my point of view ‘unknown’ is not such a bad thing, for the unknown holds infinite possibilities.

Cosmos scientist Carl Sagan was fond of reminding us that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. The summation of Russian cryobiologist V.A. Negovskii, in his ground breaking book "Resuscitation" offers such evidence that life can be tucked away in a cocoon to be awakened another day. We simply need to learn how to do it correctly, and we are presently in that process.

Negovskii writes, "Death is due to the disturbance of vital mechanisms with irreversible changes in living matter, which disintegrates and decomposes. If such disturbances did not take place, if the mechanism of life is intact and its basic structure is not affected, complete cessation of life is possible which is not equivalent to death, for life can be restored by a change to more favorable conditions… The discovery of the fact that life may cease completely or be temporarily interrupted, after which it is again restored, marks a major scientific achievement of philosophical importance."

Cryonicists have every right to assume that future generations of scientists and doctors will make enormous gains in the ability to resuscitate frozen human beings, but is it reasonable to expect them to be able to perform miracles? Not necessarily. Therefore it is critically important that we deliver our bodies to those future wizard’s in the very best biologically preserved condition that is humanly possible. Our lives will depend on it.

There can be no question that the preparation phase of a cryonics suspension is at least as important as having the body frozen at all. Remember, the goal of cryonics is to slow down and stop the dying process, not to revive completely dead human beings. How soon and properly the dying process has be stopped will directly affect the likelihood and quality of resuscitation.

In a recent issue of the Immortalist newsletter, I read a comment written by CI Cryobiologist Dr. Yurri Pichugin, where he states that if you want the best chances for a perfect cryonics preparation "Move to Michigan" near CI. That’s pretty sound advice considering the availability of the finest experienced experts in the world and top of the line facilities and accommodations. In the CI protocol, president Ben Best offers an examination of his first Cryonics case in Toronto Canada. Ben had implored the patient to move to Michigan where the quality of her cryonics preparations could be vastly improved, thereby improving her potential reanimation. She steadfastly refused, causing enormous effort, confusion and expense. And she certainly did not receive the quality cryonics preparation she would have had she heeded Ben’s advice.

Short of moving to Michigan, there are other things you can do to ensure that you make it to CI for your suspension in reasonably good shape. With some good planning and a little legwork, you can go a long way toward that goal..

I recently began setting up my own standby here in California, It’s been quite an educational experience. I called my old friend Joseph Klockgether, and he graciously agreed to prepare and ship my body to CI. Should I die for any reason, he would be the first person contacted. A few months later I was rushed to the hospital with a nearly fatal heart potassium deficiency. During my hospital stay I thought about how long it would take Joseph to drive from Orange County to San Diego once he was contacted. It would be at least four hours before he could get to me. By then my brain would be soup. That simply wouldn’t do. I had to have a better plan.

When I orchestrated the freezing of Dr. James Bedford in 1967, we had made arrangements to be at his bedside at the time of his death with a standby team of three counting myself.

It was then that I remembered my ex neighbor, Dan. He and his wife were trauma technicians at two local hospitals. He had moved several years prior, and I had a tough time locating him, but when I did it was well worth the effort.

I invited Dan and his wife to my house for dinner and he accepted. My wife, Mert is originally from Cambodia, so she prepared a dish called Yo Haun. It is a combination

specialty of shrimp cilantro thin beef strips different greens wrapped in a chunk of lettuce that is then dunked into a peanut sauce that is to die for (just kidding).

After dinner we all settled into the living room and discussed how to enlist the services of a standby technician such as Dan, that could escort a patient through the first stage of cryonics preparation.

Dan told me the most important element of success is to complete an advance directive as an organ donor. You must be sure it is properly filled out as a medical donor. It must also be witnessed or notarized and placed with at least, the following parties: your doctor, mortician, your wife or next of kin, a best friend and each member of your standby team. Always keep one copy on your person in case you are unexpectedly hospitalized. I’ve scanned my advance directive and copied it to a thumb drive I keep on my key chain. A medical donor bracelet or card could easily point hospital staff to the thumb drive.

What Dan told me next really caught my attention. As members of a trauma team, Dan and his wife often deal with patients who pass away at the hospital. Some of these patients have donated their organs. The normal hospital routine when an organ donor has died is to administer whatever chemicals and procedures are appropriate (in our case that would be heparin and cooling the head and body immediately) just prior to clinical death he would routinely be hooked up to life support to preserve the viability of the organs until the recipient organization picks up the body. The recipient organization usually recovers the body within four hours. If there was to be a long delay in retrieving the body, after six hours it would likely be placed into a refrigeration vault for storage.

The body is either taken to the harvesting ward where the donated organs are retrieved or removed to another location. Everything the cryonics suspension patient wants and needs is consistent with most of today’s established hospital policies for organ donors. Injection of heparin and cool-down procedures could also be specified in the Advance Directive and included in the harvesting protocol.

Once I completed my Advance Directive and confirmed that my hospital did indeed have an organ harvesting program, I turned my attention to preparation and transportation. I already had Joseph Klockgether lined up to handle the pick up and transportation, but that would be hours after my being declared clinically dead. That left a gap that I still needed to fill. Who could I get to be there to insure that the hospital followed the appropriate protocol? To my pleasant surprise, Dan offered to do that job himself.

He would be perfect for handling my standby. He knows the ins and outs of dealing with hospital staff. One thing I learned from my early days in cryonics is that hospital staff may get spooked if you mention human suspension or anything to do with future reanimation. Dan attested that the same is true today. Hospitals don’t need to know what will be happening with the body once it’s gone. The hospital is most concerned that the law and medical ethics are strictly followed. Just follow the normal already in place procedure without making waves. Dan knows their language. As a trauma technician, he is very familiar with the protocol for organ harvesting, and he can ensure all the right steps are being taken. He can then give the heparin injection start the cool-down process and contact Joseph Klockgether to arrange transportation of my body to CI. The gap was filled.

According to Dan, there should be no shortage of qualified and willing trauma technicians for cryonicists in other states who may want to make similar arrangements. It would be a perfect way for trauma technicians to earn a little extra cash and to be a part of something that is on the cutting edge of medical research.

In summary, here is what I see as the most important steps an individual cryonisist can take in preparing for his or her own suspension:

1. Prepare an Advance Directive detailing your desire for a whole body anatomical donation to CI, Upon clinical death the cool down and heparin injection required for CI to accept you as an organ donor. Make sure to distribute copies of your AD to your doctor, your next of kin, and at least one close friend. Also keep a copy of it with you.
2. Get in contact with your hospital’s public relations director and determine if that hospital has an organ harvesting program. Ask to speak to a trauma technician to find out how much of the organ donation protocol the hospital can be reasonably expected to carry out. Try to enlist that trauma technician as your personal standby assistant for cryonics preparation. If he personally is not interested see if he can suggest a referral to you. In California we offer a thousand dollars to our standby technician for a completed standby cryonics preparation procedure.
3. Make advance arrangements with a local mortician to step in quickly upon notification of your death, and facilitate the pick-up and transportation of your body to CI.
4. Make arrangements with a qualified trauma technician who is familiar with organ harvesting protocol. Make sure the technician becomes intimately familiar with the cryonics standby protocol, and that he can be available at a moment’s notice.

While writing this article I received word that Dan our trauma technician was just very badly injured in a work related accident. It is unlikely he will ever be able to return to his former medical duties. This leaves California temporarily without a cryonics standby technician, but not for long. As I have already outlined we will follow those same suggestions and very shortly locate another cryonics by technician. If you need help in your area locating a trauma technician give us a call at (760) 583-6700 and we will try to help.

I again want to emphasize that when death is looking at me, I personally will make every effort to have my cryonics preparation performed at and by the Cryonics Institute experts in Michigan. I believe this single act may well make the difference of when I get to return to our amazing world and see the fantastic changes that have taken place during my trip in the cryonics time machine.

In summary, as I see it, the order for making the best Cryonics preparation procedures possible, are among the following choices.

1. Move to Michigan and put your self in the hands of the CI experts. (five star must)
2. Check out major hospitals, Arrange your own standby technician, Advance Directive as organ donor.
3. Suspended Animation Boynton Beach, Florida.
4. Wait for remote standby from Michigan after death.
5. ASAP Just pack the body in ice and ship it to CI in Michigan

I will soon be hosting an online discussion and support forum for cryonics preparation at www.thecontinuedlifegroup.com . I look forward to the participation of my fellow cryonicists.

Please feel free to contact me at any time at cryobob@cox.net