Are you wondering how you could help assure high-quality cryopreservation in case of sudden death or delay in SST team arrival? In an ideal scenario, there is no delay in the arrival of an SST team. However, situations may arise where there is no advance notice or the SST team is notified late. As it is well established that time is one of the most important factors when it comes to optimal cryopreservation, it would be beneficial if there was a way to start the primary steps before the team’s arrival.
With the help of Tomorrow’s Cryopreservation First Aid Kit, you can perform some of the easier but equally important early procedures. Building thereby a foundation on which the SST team can work. The precious time saved by early intervention can help close the gap between legal pronouncement and the arrival of an SST team. In this article, we will be going over what is in Cryo First Aid Kit as well as why it might be beneficial for you to have your very own Kit.
What is Cryopreservation First Aid?
First aid generally refers to tending to an injured or sick person who needs urgent medical care. In cryopreservation, first aid refers to the initial steps that have to be done to stabilize the patient before perfusion is started. Some of these steps include external cooling, Cardiopulmonary support, external respiration and administering high priority medications. Cryopreservation First Aid sets itself apart from Medical First Aid in the fact that it is only performed after the legal pronouncement of death and it builds a foundation for an optimal cryopreservation.
Who would benefit from having a Cryopreservation First Aid Kit
Local standby teams and spouses, children, close relatives, friends or guardians of someone who is signed up for cryopreservation might want a kit on hand. Individuals who travel extensively or take part in dangerous sports or activities would benefit from having a First Aid Kit. In all these cases, owning a Cryo First Aid Kit would allow you to start the stabilization procedures before the professional SST team arrives.
Why might you want to have a Cryopreservation First Aid Kit?
Time is of the essence when it comes to high-quality cryopreservation. With every passing second, there is more and more damage and degradation which will not only make perfusion more difficult but also result in sub-optimal preservation. Every small or large damage that accumulates, also makes eventual revival more challenging, since it leaves more problems for our colleagues in the future to solve before reviving the person.
Statistically speaking we can usually foretell when someone is about to die by a margin of days or weeks. Yet there will always be cases when the time of death could not be correctly predicted or if there was a sudden death due to trauma or other medical conditions. In such cases, the SST team will not be able to arrive on time and start the standby/stabilization procedures right after the pronouncement of death. There will also be cases that are difficult to reach either due to distance or accessibility. In these scenarios, a Cryo First Aid Kit will be really helpful to start some of the simpler procedures which would reduce the amount of damage/degradation until the SST team arrives and can take over the patient.
What should be in a Cryopreservation First Aid Kit:
Tomorrow’s new First Aid Kit comes with all the necessary equipment that can help start the standby procedures before a professional SST team arrives. You could also put together a first aid box yourself if all the below-mentioned products are accessible to you.
Heavy-duty body bag
A heavy-duty body bag or disaster pouch is used primarily for the transport of the deceased. In Cryo First Aid, we need body bags to provide external cooling after the pronouncement of legal death. The first step after legal pronouncement is moving the patient into a heavy-duty body bag, the patient is placed in the body bag filled with ice and water. The mixture of water and ice is used so that there is maximum cooling surface area in contact with the patient's body.
LUCAS set
The LUCAS is an automated CPR machine. In emergency medicine, it is used to give chest compressions over prolonged periods. Chest compressions are very physically demanding and tire out the person doing the compression really quickly. In emergency cases, people rotate between each other to get some rest. Even then it's very difficult to go over a certain number of rotations of compressions.
In cryopreservation stabilization procedures we don't deliver Cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) but instead, we give Cardiopulmonary support(CPS). CPR is used to resuscitate an unconscious and non-breathing patient, compared to CPS which is used to not resuscitate the patient but to maintain adequate blood flow to all regions of the body and reduce ischemic time. Since CPS is usually performed for very long periods, it is more efficient to use an automated system like LUCAS. With the help of LUCAS, we can administer long periods of compression with the exact same efficiency from the beginning to the end. The compressions make sure the blood is circulated and not stagnated. Ensuring continuous circulation of blood, along with respiratory support, provide oxygen delivery across the body. The Lucas set includes:
- Lucas CPS system
- Backplate
- Charger
- Car charger
- International extension block
Respiratory set
The respiratory set is used to provide external respiration with or without additional oxygen. The external respiration and the CPS keep the oxygen at satisfactory levels and reduce the amount of damage accumulated. The set includes:
- Bag and valve
- Mask
- Oropharyngeal airway
- Tubing for oxygen
Medication set
The medication set is meant to be used only by a medical doctor. It can be used to provide some of the high priority medication which increases the quality of perfusion. After cardiac arrest it is extremely difficult to put an intravenous cannula in, this problem can be bypassed with the help of an intraosseous infusion.
The provided bone marrow needle can be used to gain intraosseous access, which allows the administration of medication directly into the bone marrow. The set includes
- Bone marrow needle
- Extension cable for easy administration of medication
- Syringes to administer the medication
Manual
Every Cryo First Aid Kit will also come with a manual, which will help guide the person/team through the procedures.
Important information regarding the first aid
- IMPORTANT: Cryopreservation first-aid should only and exclusively be performed after the legal pronouncement of death has taken place. Otherwise, the body might not be released to the cryopreservation provider in time which leads to EXTREMELY low quality preservation. DO NOT DO ANYTHING BEFORE LEGAL PRONOUNCEMENT!
- Special medical knowledge is usually not required to perform these steps, but it's always good to know why these procedures are done the way they are.
- The ones providing the first aid should have attended a local training session or one of our on-site training at Tomorrow biostasis. In certain cases when there is no one with training, one can follow the provided manual to perform the procedures.
How can I get one?
If you would like to get a personal Cryopreservation First Aid Kit, please contact Tomorrow, either by email (hello@tomorrowbiostasis.com) or book a consultation through our website. We can provide you with one of our standard sets or even make a custom one to your requirements.
