Tuesday, September 24, 2024, In Switzerland, a 64-year-old American woman, suffering from severe immune compromise, used the system Sarco to carry out euthanasia, taking his own life. Following his death, the Swiss government arrested “several people involved”, not specifying at the moment either their identity or their role in the affair. In addition to the news story, it is worth spending a few words to discuss in more detail this coffin-shaped assisted suicide device that is sparking a heated debate at the moment. Designed to allow euthanasia quickly and painlessly, Sarco was invented by the Australian Philip Nitschkea doctor and pro-euthanasia activist who, on several occasions, has defined himself as «the Elon Musk of assisted suicide».
Warning: in this article we will not delve into the possible ethical, legal and moral implications arising from the use of this machine, but we will focus solely on its functioning from a technical point of view, so as to allow each person to develop their own thinking in a more conscious way.
First presented at the Venice Design 2019the operation of Sarco It is conceptually simple: it is a capsule inside which the person who wishes to proceed with euthanasia is made to lie down. When the lid is closed, the first thing that happens is pressed a button which starts a system based on liquid nitrogen which reduces quickly the oxygen levelgoing from 21% to 0.05% in less than 30 seconds – all while maintaining a low CO level2.
It is estimated that with just a few breaths of air the person first begins to feel a sense of disorientation and then one of unawarenessleading to her departure within 5 minutes. To ensure that everything goes according to plan, these controlled atmosphere conditions are maintained for About 15 minutesthus ensuring certain death for hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) and hypocapnia (carbon dioxide deficiency).
This device, according to the idea of its designer, would allow euthanasia to be carried out quickly, autonomously and without the aid of specific drugs and injections. Furthermore, the capsule would also be equipped with a system for the facial recognition, so that even people with paralysis or particular diseases can operate the device using only eye movement or voice recognition. There are currently 3 different versions of this machine, the latest of which is the one used in Switzerland a few days ago.
