Thoughts from Clark Lindsey on the latest developments.
3 thoughts on “Suspended Animation”
Charles Sheffield had an SF novel about this “Between the Strokes of Night” with a unique take on the concept.
I think he’s missing the point about the new trials: this isn’t conventional hypothermia or anesthesia; they’re going to drain all of the blood out and replace it with chilled saline. The metabolism vanishes and there is no brain activity at all. They repair the damage, then insanguinate (is that a word? replace the blood) the body, heating it at the same time, and hope that everything works. This has been tested with dogs and pigs with good results. They’re doing this with victims of violent trauma that would otherwise face certain death; that’s how they’re getting around informed consent. If it works, it’s a game-changer; eventually ambulances will carry the equipment to do this and will be able to put heart attack and stroke victims into suspended animation before irreparable damage is done.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m waiting for the successful resuscitation of Drs Hunter, Kaminsky, and Kimball before making up my mind about this.
Charles Sheffield had an SF novel about this “Between the Strokes of Night” with a unique take on the concept.
I think he’s missing the point about the new trials: this isn’t conventional hypothermia or anesthesia; they’re going to drain all of the blood out and replace it with chilled saline. The metabolism vanishes and there is no brain activity at all. They repair the damage, then insanguinate (is that a word? replace the blood) the body, heating it at the same time, and hope that everything works. This has been tested with dogs and pigs with good results. They’re doing this with victims of violent trauma that would otherwise face certain death; that’s how they’re getting around informed consent. If it works, it’s a game-changer; eventually ambulances will carry the equipment to do this and will be able to put heart attack and stroke victims into suspended animation before irreparable damage is done.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m waiting for the successful resuscitation of Drs Hunter, Kaminsky, and Kimball before making up my mind about this.