Assisted suicide has been an important topic in Switzerland for years. The “Sarco” suicide capsule has attracted worldwide media attention, particularly due to its novel approach to assisted suicide and the ethical, legal and social debates it has sparked. Recently, the first person in the “Sarco” died in a forest in Schaffhausen. The promoters and many media reports suggest that the introduction of nitrogen into the capsule before death causes euphoria or a pleasant state of inebriation. Not least as a diver, I ask myself: can this be true?
Sarco is a 3D-printed capsule developed by Australian euthanasia advocate Dr. Philip Nitschke. After the person willing to die has been seated in it, nitrogen is introduced. “After about a minute and a half,” says Nitschke, “ you feel disoriented - similar to having a few too many drinks - and a few minutes later you lose consciousness.” After that, death occurs. Video footage of the first suicide shows how the body of the dying person, who was already unconscious at the time, convulses. According to the NZZ, this is “a reaction that is frequently observed in suicides using nitrogen.”
To put it mildly, this description seems misleading to me. All divers are familiar with the concept of the rapture of the deep, which is caused by the narcotic effect of nitrogen at increased partial pressure. Although this nitrogen narcosis is individually pronounced, it limits safe diving with compressed air to a depth of approx. 40 m, corresponding to a nitrogen partial pressure of 4 bar. The effects become more intense with increasing depth: from slight euphoria at shallow depths to concentration problems and disorientation to unconsciousness at partial pressures of around 10 bar. Even at a partial pressure of 2.5 bar, slight psychomotor impairments can occur, but significant effects only become apparent at higher values.
However, the “Sarco” is not a pressure chamber. Can the introduction of nitrogen into the capsule really trigger a state of euphoria or even intoxication, as is suggested? - Certainly not. A nitrogen partial pressure of 1 bar does not produce any intoxicating effect. Otherwise this would mean that a nitrogen narcosis would nearly occur while snorkeling.
The truth is: In the “Sarco” capsule, oxygen is displaced by nitrogen, which leads to asphyxiation. The nitrogen itself has no narcotic effect. It certainly does not cause a generalized seizure of the body. This and the symptoms mentioned above are the result of the hypoxia. Or to put it clearly: people wishing to die suffocate in the “Sarco”. They don't even feel the nitrogen.
I would like to see the media report more clearly. Perhaps there is insufficient understanding of how the capsule works - or perhaps they don't want to know too much about it, because “ narcosis and euphoria through nitrogen” sounds more pleasant than “death by suffocation in a sarcophagus”. At least swissmedic takes a clear position on how “Sarco” works: nitrogen "displaces the oxygen, resulting in the suffocation of the person wishing to die."
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