News Blog
by Jordan Sparks
3/2/08 Aschwin DeWolf (formerly from Suspended Animation) and Chana DeWolf (neuroscientist) just moved to Portland, and they organized a local cryonics meetup yesterday. It was attended by Eric Geislinger, Jane Talisman, Scott Newell, Kumar, Dan Ellis, Carlos Mondragon (Alcor director), Ramos Dilly, the DeWolfs, and me, for a total of 10. There was a lot of combined knowledge in that room. Many of the people in the room had hands-on experience with multiple cases, many had worked at a cryonics organization, and many had been involved for decades. I feel like we finally have the chance to create a world-class cryonics organization in Oregon. Other than myself, none of the others seemed to be able to store equipment. So I will be the only one doing that. The DeWolfs know what equipment is needed, and still have connections with other cryonics organizations to possibly obtain a few critical pieces at low cost. They will be advising me and working with me. I will be creating some pages on this website that explain the equipment and supplies that are still needed. We will not be able to put a big sign on the street until about mid April.
12/9/07 It looks like we will have our very own space within a few months. This will finally allow me to get a phone number and to put "Oregon Cryonics" on a big sign on the building on a very busy street. Very exciting stuff.
12/8/07 I gave a short informal class to 8 of my staff which was an overview of the science behind cryonics. Since the class was optional, I was surprised by the high attendence rate and by the high interest level of the people present. What actually caught me off guard is that they seemed to want more than just a scientific overview. They seemed to want the step by step protocol on how to actually do it. So, I guess it's time to add procedure pages to this website. But not until the ice bath is done.
12/9/07 Yes, there's a void of about two years since the last entry. Soon after the last entry, an ambulance was indeed purchased. The reason why it was necessary to purchase the ambulance is that the transport vehicle determines the design of the ice bath. The previous rescue cart design has been largely abandoned as being too complicated. Instead, I will take the standard collapsible stretcher that came with the ambulance, and build an inexpensive ice bath that sits on it. It has been a real struggle to find storage for the ambulance. And without easily accessible storage, it's hard to work on the equipment. After listening to the rants of Melody Maxim on the Cold Filter for the last year, I do feel a little more impetus to try to use existing medical equipment where at all possible. The ambulance stretcher with its collapsible legs is a prime example of the usefulness of this approach. If I can't clean it up enough to make it look nice, then I would consider purchasing a newer one on eBay. It's aluminum, and somewhat corroded. But aluminum corrosion tends to be very shallow, so some buffing and oiling might do the trick. I can't wait to finish the ice bath so I can post some pictures.
11/21/05 I had a bid of $2,500 for a very nice looking '95 ambulance on ebay, but I got outbid in the last few seconds of the auction. It may be a long time before another one comes along that's so cheap. Typical asking price is between 7 and 10 thousand. But since we can't afford more than about $2,500, it looks like the ambulance will just have to wait a while.
11/19/05 I've designed a scissor lift for the rescue cart that might be added later. It would be able to lift the bath portion by up to 18 inches. The truck bed sits 15 inches higher than the leg portion of the rescue cart. The design uses a 12 volt electric jack to provide the power, and a scissor mechanism that would be fabricated from scratch. Also, we may get an ambulance after all. Requirements are that it must look sharp, but must be dirt cheap. Reliability is not nearly as big a factor as it would be for most emergency units, because we will be using the ambulance more for transport than for any sort of true emergency. Advantages of getting an ambulance now are that the cart can be designed properly to fit the standard ambulance attachments. It also gives us a professional appearance and lends credibility to our organization. Most importantly, it will help us provide our customers with better service. It shouldn't cost much to maintain because it will hardly ever be driven.
11/17/05 The rescue cart is well under construction. It should be usable within a month. The final details and polishing might take a few more months. Welding stainless steel is no easy task. It takes many many hours and a lot of patience. Instead of spending money on an ambulance, we will instead depend on my Suburban. The bath portion of the rescue cart will slide into the back, while the leg portion will probably be strapped to a rack on the back. One nagging detail is how to raise the bath to the height of the bed of the Suburban. Keep in mind that the bath will weigh many hundreds of pounds since it will be full of ice water. It will need to be kept level while loading. So either a winch or a hydraulic jack might be used to raise the bath. Once the entire rescue cart is completed, I will begin designing and testing the lifting system.