> Washout and Perfusion Instructions

Funeral directors no longer do washout or perfusion when handling Cryonics Institute patients. Please see Funeral Directors' Guidelines for instructions.

Formerly the Cryonics Institute (CI) requested distant funeral directors to do washout and perfusion. (Perfusion means infusion through blood vessels. For cryonics patients perfusion is done with washout solution or cryoprotectant -- "anti-freeze"-- solution.) It is now no longer CI policy to have any funeral director other than CI's Michigan funeral director do washout or perfusion. The remote funeral director should emphasize prompt cooling to ice-water temperature and rapid shipment. A remote washout can be damaging to blood vessels. Avoid cooling below ice-water temperature because freezing damages blood vessels, making perfusion impossible. Cryoprotectant perfusion is best done in Michigan and requires immediate cooling when perfusion is complete.

Cooperation by funeral directors for cryonics patients involves cooling with ice and shipping to the Cryonics Institute as quickly as possible, in coordination with our Michigan cooperating funeral director, James Walsh. The expense will be paid by CI if the patient executes a "Local Help Rider" with CI and over-funds his or her cryonic suspension agreement by an amount that is at least large enough to cover the expenses. If the patient has a "Local Help Rider" in force with CI, the cooperating funeral director will be provided with a copy to assure payment for their services. Otherwise the expenses must be paid directly by the patient's family or friends.

If feasible, at the same time as initial cooling, while transporting the patient from the hospital to the funeral home, the funeral director should apply CPR, either manually, or with optional devices such as an Ambu-Pump or Thumper which the CI member may purchase for the funeral director to have on hand in the case of emergency. This keeps oxygenated blood circulating through the body and also distributes a non-prescription medication called heparin to prevent clotting. But CPR while in transit is less important than prompt cooling with ice.