Sparks Brain Preservation
A Non-profit Organization
Standby is when our preservation team of one or two trained specialists travels to your city before your legal death is expected. They position themselves in a location so as to be able to begin the preservation procedure as soon as possible after legal death is pronounced. The purpose of standby is to minimize the time between legal death and the start of preservation to maximize structural preservation quality. We cannot pronounce legal death ourselves. We communicate with hospital personnel, hospice staff, or other medical professionals who will make this determination and alert our team. Standby may be appropriate when a medical team can provide advance notice of expected timing within a few days. Standby is not possible in cases where legal death occurs suddenly and unexpectedly.
Standby is included in our standard fee for preservation Service. It's done this way instead of being a separate fee because anyone might need it and we need to spread the costs of staffing and training across all patients. Because of the expense of standby, we do not generally deploy on a standby case without proof of funding. This could include verification of adequate life insurance naming Sparks Brain Preservation as the beneficiary.
Many people are already familiar with Alcor's standby services, and we need to point out that ours is different from Alcor's in a number of ways. Instead of a larger team with medical backgrounds, we send out one or two specialists who have already done the procedure many dozens of times on practice cadavers. Instead of large amounts of equipment, our team only takes with them one or two luggage-sized cases. Our protocol prioritizes immediate preservation quality over the misguided goal of cellular viability, so there are no medications, no ice bath, no chest compressions, etc. Because the deployment is simpler, we have a lower threshold for when we choose to activate a standby.
Early planning helps ensure the best outcome. Please contact us early, ensure that your paperwork is completed, inform your care team of your preservation wishes, and designate a contact person to communicate with us if you cannot.
How much advance notice do you need for standby?
We are prepared to send someone with virtually no notice. The more notice we have, the better we can prepare and ensure team availability.
What if the timeline is uncertain?
Medical timelines are rarely exact. We understand standby might last days or even more than a week. Ultimately, the decision of when to deploy standby and for how long is going to be made by us. As one example, we might send out one person early as an advocate, and a second person later as the time gets shorter.
Can standby be cancelled?
Yes, if your condition improves or plans change, we can cancel a standby.
Where does the preservation procedure take place?
This depends on your location and circumstances. In cases near to our facility, we can bring our mobile preservation vehicle. In more distant locations, we would typically partner with a local funeral home to use their facility.
What if legal death occurs before the team arrives?
If legal death occurs before our team can deploy, we shift to our standard remote preservation protocol, arriving as quickly as possible. In most cases, the staff at a local funeral home can perform some initial steps, like transport and cooling.