The creator of the "Suicide Pod" has shed new light on how the device works and what happens to a person once they activate it.
The Sarco pod - commonly referred to as the 'suicide pod' - was designed by Dr. Philip Nitschke and aims to provide a "peaceful" death within 10 minutes.
However, its use has sparked widespread controversy, particularly following its first recorded case last year.
On September 23, 2024, the pod was used for the first time by a 64-year-old American woman in Switzerland. The procedure was overseen by a doctor, who was later taken into custody by the Swiss Federal Police.
According to Dr. Florian Willett, who was involved in the case, the woman had a "fast, peaceful, and dignified" death, per The Last Resort website.
Nitschke previously explained the process, stating that she had entered the capsule "voluntarily and unaided" and "pressed the internal activation button herself," adding: “The oxygen concentration was recorded and can be shown to have dropped sharply on activation and to have remained at lethal levels until well after the woman had died."
The Sarco pod operates by filling up with nitrogen gas, rapidly reducing oxygen levels, and rendering the person inside unconscious in under a minute. Death follows approximately 10 minutes later.
Speaking on the How It Ticks podcast in December last year, Nitschke - who is the current director and founder of Exit International - elaborated on the science behind the process.
Podcast host Mike Connors expressed surprise that it was a painless method, asking, “So there’s no struggle from the body, gasping for oxygen?” Nitschke responded, “No, you need to have a very sudden drop in oxygen.”
He explained that once the button inside the pod is pressed, they are "filling the lungs up with zero oxygen,” causing a rapid drop in the oxygen level of the blood traveling from the heart to the brain.
“That drops off precipitously so that the blood gets to your brain with no oxygen. Your brain immediately conserves what little oxygen it’s got, and it does that quickly by you losing consciousness,” he said.
The process is swift, with Nitschke stating that “within two breaths,” the individual loses consciousness and faints.
Once unconscious, the person inside the pod remains in a “zero oxygen environment, breathing easily, just with no oxygen.” Nitschke explained that this is different from suffocation deaths, which can be distressing.
“With this, you breathe easily, but there’s no oxygen, so it’s hypoxia, you're unconscious. Then step by step, different essential activities controlled by your brain are switched down,” he said.
According to Nitschke, it takes around 5 to 10 minutes for the heart to stop, with the individual unconscious for most of the process. He also noted that while some muscle contractions occur due to lack of oxygen, these are natural and should not alarm any witnesses.
He reassured that “these are normal and any witnesses shouldn’t worry if the person is having a horrible time and being tortured to death”.
While the Sarco pod promises a swift and seemingly painless death, Nitschke issued a stark warning to those considering its use. “Once the button is pressed, there is no way back,” he cautioned.
As the debate surrounding assisted dying continues globally, the Sarco pod remains one of the most controversial developments in the field - raising ethical, legal, and moral questions about the right to die.