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First woman dies in ‘suicide capsule’ in Switzerland (www.volkskrant.nl)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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In a first, an American woman used a suicide pod to take her own life. The process took place in Switzerland. It's done by pumping in only nitrogen gas, so the person will lose goes dizzy, loses consciousness and eventually dies. Enter futurama memes.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If a mask partially fails to seal the procedure would not be correct. It needs to be all nitrogen.

Sure, a proper mask fit can be achieved, but a chamber is more comfortable, AND more reliable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

A mask would still work fine with a reasonably good fit and positive pressure, it would just take more nitrogen. I think the stress of having a mask on would be a real problem for some people, no matter how effective.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I addressed that.

As background, as a firefighter I had to twice annually test the seal of my mask, and stay clean shaven.

They had a device that sensed the air moving through the mask, and a candle would be lit right near you.

A few times in my career a mask I felt was a great fit, that fully sealed, marginally failed the test, and I would be issued a new one.

Such a process (or anything similar to it) is not what you want for something as important as this. ANY leaking ambient air is a problem.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is a different use case, and has different limitations. One of them is portability, another is fit during activity. Neither of these apply to a nitrogen mask for assisted death. In fact, you need a means of gas to escape because CO2 buildup is the cause of discomfort from suffocation, not lack of oxygen. The homebrew device is called a suicide bag and explains in detail why positive pressure, lighter gases, and an opening are preferred.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm aware co2 is the driver of asphyxiation and the panic response. The point is the chamber handles that without the need for any fit test or anything of that nature.

If there is a leak of ambient air into the breathing supply of air, the process is not going as expected.

A chamber straight up solves that AND increases comfortability of the subject as they don't need to wear something on their head in their last moments.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Pretty sure suicide bags don't have much in the way of fit tests, either, and I mentioned the comfort issue in my very first comment in this chain, no need to revisit it. An air leak into your nitrogen supply is always going to be a problem, possibly a bigger one in the reusable product than the one-off. It only has to work well enough one time.