UNPREPARED NON-MEMBER EMERGENCIES
READ CAREFULLY
If
a patient has died but does not have a Cryonics Institute (CI) membership with complete
legal and financial arrangements in place, then there are special limitations
and requirements from which CI cannot deviate.
1. The Patient or Next of Kin
or legal guardian must first read this, and then sign it and send or fax CI a
copy, along with $1,250 (cash, cashier's check, bank wire
transfer, money order or credit card payment), accompanied by a
Membership Application for the Patient (which can be downloaded from our web
site, or faxed if circumstances permit). This buys an Option One membership for
the Patient. The $1,250 is not refundable under any circumstances.
Therefore
we must ask that anyone requesting these difficult and out-of-the-ordinary
measures fairly compensate CI by paying our standard $1250 membership fee
beforehand. This is NOT the full suspension fee, but will be considered as a
standard paid-in-full membership fee should the patient be accepted. It will not be refunded.
We
should add that some activities performed at CI in terms of patient care are
critical and ongoing and require our undivided attention. We cannot provide
unlimited access to staff or unlimited assistance.
Also,
if there are unusual circumstances resulting in unusual expenses, those
expenses will be the sole responsibility of the Patient or Next of Kin or legal
guardian (the party or parties signing the contract on behalf of the Patient).
3. If the Patient is already dead at time of first contact with CI,
it will be impossible to do the best kind of cryopreservation, and the chance
of revival will be worse than usual in some unknown degree. The family will
need to have time to make an informed decision. We therefore suggest that they
get the patient packed in ice as quickly as possible (especially the head), by
hospital or funeral personnel, and arrange for a local funeral director to pack
the patient in dry ice as quickly as possible after that, in a well insulated
holding unit.
How long should or must the Patient be kept locally in dry ice before CI will authorize shipment? At a minimum, as already noted, we must first receive (a) the properly executed contract and membership application, and (b) full payment of the minimum $28,000 Suspension Fee (in addition to the $1,250 membership fee previously paid), if the patient is a CI member at the death. For patients who are not a member of CI at the time of death, then the minimum Suspension Fee is $35,000, and CI must receive that amount before shipment to CI facilities can be authorized.
Beyond
that, we must be convinced that an informed decision has been made--that the
responsible people understand what they are doing and that they have had a
reasonable chance to acquaint themselves with all aspects of the situation.
If
the Next of Kin is a physician and conveys an impression of competence, we will
probably not require any wait, once we have the paperwork and payment. In other
cases, we may conclude that up to two weeks may be prudent, to protect CI
against the likelihood of a later claim of uninformed consent. We may consider
the financial circumstances of the family--the greater the financial hardship,
the more certain we must be that the responsible people have clear
understanding and are psychologically stable. We may also require an attorney's
letter saying that he has been consulted and has reviewed the contract. If
there are several Next of Kin (for example, the deceased Patient may have
several children and no spouse), and there is divided opinion among them, then
again we must be especially cautious.
If
the final decision is negative, the family will only have lost the local
funeral director's charges plus the membership fee.
If
the final decision is affirmative, the cost to the family for CI services will
be the membership fee of $1,250 plus the Suspension Fee of $28,000, or $35,000, if the patient was not a CI member at the time of death. The family will also have to pay the local
funeral director separately for his services and transportation of the Patient
to CI. (No C.O.D. shipments are accepted).
Again--shipment
must NOT be made until authorized by CI.
Any body shipped to CI or to our Michigan funeral directors without our
authorization will not be accepted.
4. In post-mortem cases there will almost always be some delay in cooling
the patient. How much is acceptable? No
one knows. Longer periods at higher temperatures mean more damage and worse
chances.
Someone
packed in ice or kept in a cooler in a morgue will not deteriorate as quickly as
at room temperature, but relatively quickly nevertheless. We do not know how much delay at
refrigerator temperature is "acceptable" (in the sense of leaving a
"reasonable" probability of eventual revival.
But
we must set and maintain policies and deadlines. We therefore have adopted the following policies, which cannot be
altered except by vote of the Board of Directors:
a)
In no case will we accept the body of a buried non-CI member.
b)
In no case will we accept a non-CI member who has been dead two days (48 hours)
or more without having been refrigerated or otherwise cooled.
NOTE: If the Patient was already
a member of CI, with a contract in force, then we will accept the body or
"remains" for cryopreservation regardless of delays or circumstances
and in any condition, in accordance with the Patient’s wishes, and the terms of
the Cryonic Suspension Agreement.
6. Are there alternatives, if CI is unable to take the deceased
person? There are.
The
Cryonics Institute is not the only organization offering cryopreservation
services. We have links to other organizations that you can access at http://www.cryonics.org/alternlinks.html.
They do not all have the same methods or policies, and both methods and
policies may change from time to time.
If CI cannot accept your case, we suggest you investigate the other
providers.
If
cryopreservation of the patient is not possible or financially feasible, then
some families may decide that preservation of genetic material (DNA) may offer
a bit of consolation, with the eventual possibility of cloning if and when
technology permits. CI offers this service to members -- please see our web site at http://www.cryonics.org/dna.html).
7. If you have read and understood all of the above, and still wish
to
I
have read this statement in its entirety and understand it.
Name
(please print) __________________________________________
