ken meece's List: MedEthics

• When a death is expected, the ideal place for it is at home, in a familiar environment, surrounded by family. But that is becoming a rarer event. What is becoming more common is people being rushed into hospital for what I believe is a more undignified and worse death, in an anonymous room with nurses who are busy. In my view that is a failure of health professionals, because we should be preparing the families of terminally ill people for death, showing them that it doesn't have to be frightening and that they can do it at home. Palliative care is all about making death comfortable - you do not need to die in pain, you can die in a dignified manner. People worry that having a death at home will be horrible and traumatic for the family, but a good death is like a good birth - it is a beautiful event, not at all undignified.
• about 16% of the mercury that goes into the atmosphere is caused by cremations
• water, potassium hydroxide and steam heat
• Once the body is in the sealed chamber, it is immersed in around 425 to 500 litres of water mixed with around 15 to 20 litres of potassium hydroxide. A coil running though the unit generates steam, which heats all the ingredients to 150C, and then a recirculation pump creates a whirlpool effect that helps the body to dissolve. All the tissue, muscle, hair and nails inside the unit will dissolve. Resomation turns the body back into its original elements. It breaks down the body and neutralises everything, including the chemicals used to preserve the body, such as formaldehyde.
• The innocuous fluid left at the end of the process contains what the body is ultimately comprised of - nitrogen, phosphate, proteins, amino acids, salts and sugars. It's got a greenish-brown tint and it flows just like water. This liquid contains no DNA so has no detectable link with the original body. It can be safely disposed of or used on land as a fertiliser if requested.

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