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Kenneth Smith ‘struggled for life’ for 22 minutes in Alabama nitrogen gas execution: Updates
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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It sounds to me like they didn't account for the oxygen in his lungs. They put a fucking mask on him and filled it with pure nitrogen, but it was probably a closed system so his own breath had nowhere to go. Most of the oxygen that goes to your lungs is not absorbed, and you have breathe in your own breath for a while before the CO2 content makes it poisonous.
That's the wrong fucking way to do it.
CO2 poisoning is fucking brutal. Your brain recognizes that you can't expell carbon dioxide, and your body panics. You'll thrash about and struggle to breathe fresh air, even though you still have lots of oxygen in your lungs and in your blood stream.
The whole point of Nitrogen is that your body doesn't realize it's not getting Oxygen, and you slowly lose consciousness without any panic or reflex. To do that, you have to pump nitrogen into a chamber and then filter out oxygen and carbon dioxide. The chamber can be the size of a mask, but a sealed box would be less likely to leak. As you breathe, the oxygen and the carbon dioxide are continuously scrubbed from the air.
Basically, this guy was tortured to death. If you've ever had the sensation of being under water too long, and you have that shocking dull pain in your chest and a headache, it's like that but for 23 minutes until you die.
Ah, I didn't read in the article that they used a mask. What a cruel / incompetent thing to do
A CPAP mask could obtain a similar effect. It forms a perfect seal on the face with a one way valve for exhalation. As long as the mask is piped to a bottle of pure nitrogen you'd quickly remove all oxygen from your air supply and be out like a light in no time
But doesn't that just go over the nose? I'm not sure. Plus, the seal would have to be air-tight. A cpap might be snug to the skin, but you could break the seal by moving your cheeks around.
You're right, there are multiple types of CPAP mask. I was writing about full face ones like these. In the cheapo ones we stock on my ambulance the seal around the mask is a silicone-ish tubing that clings to the skin very well.
For CPAP or BiPAP to be effective (and not piss off your ventilator), the circuit needs to be leak free. I've had full conversations with people on BiPAP before without my vent throwing any alarms. They have an expiratory valve so you can breathe out, but no outside air gets in. You're fed solely by the air getting pumped out of the vent. These masks would be very easy to set up for pure nitrogen by using trach mask tubing (the ports are the same size) and a tank of nitrogen set up to an O2 regulator. Ditch the dilutor for one that's closed off. Couldn't tell you what they're called but I've used them before and know they exist. This whole setup could be had for less than $50 if you're purchasing wholesale
This is almost exactly what a good friend of mine used to kill himself eight years ago this week. His thought process was that it would be a painless death. I hope he was right.
I'm sorry for your loss and if it's any reassurance, that's about as quick and painless he could've managed. It's never easy to lose someone but hopefully knowing that will make* things a little easier. I wish you the best
Thanks, I appreciate it.
The obvious outcome is someone trying to fight against being killed in whatever way they can. If you know that you won't get oxygen, the obvious response is to hold your breath.
This would work humanely for someone who wants to die, but as a method of execution is is torture like all the rest.