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RAR: The most critical part
of the training centers on

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the Network's recommended
method of death.

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A death by helium is as peaceful
a death as you will ever have.

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If someone put a hood over your
head, carbon dioxide, carbon

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monoxide starts to build up, and
your body senses air hunger, and

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it becomes very terrifying as it

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realizes that
you're suffocating.

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Helium is completely
different than that.

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Your body doesn't recognize the

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difference between
oxygen and helium.

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You breathe four times, five times.
It's very comfortable.

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It's just like you're
breathing air.

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And then, boom, the
lights go out.

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We'll show you what has
been the usual equipment.

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The exit guides review
all the equipment needed

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for what they call "the death

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event"-- a plastic hood, a
tube, and a helium tank.

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The tubing should be, oh, about
eight to ten inches inside

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when they place the
hood on their head.

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Helium is available in party stores
or balloon stores and so on.

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And the hoods can be very easily

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made out of plastic
bags that are at home.

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The earliest hoods that
were used were turkey bags.

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So the patient can get the

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products they need without
any problem at all.

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In other words, you don't need a
physician to prescribe anything.

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It's totally in the
patient's hands.

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Two helium tanks have to
be sort of removed before

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paramedics, police,
firemen and all that.

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Somebody, I guess, gets them
into the car and drives to a

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dumpster somewhere. We
think it's best that

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they are removed from
the premises totally.

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But before any
death event can occur, Final

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Exit Network requires that all

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applicants be reviewed by its
medical committee, formerly

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headed by Dr. Lawrence Egbert,

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a retired anesthesiologist.
All the patients are asked to

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send their medical records in
and we have a letter from the

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patient about why I want to die

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in writing so I'd have
all that available.

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I would then evaluate that and
then I would say, well that's

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easy, that's straightforward, the
patient has a horrible pain,

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the patient has a horrible loss

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of dignity and therefore
I would write accepted.

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In the time that I was medical
director for Final Exit Network,

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I approved approximately 300

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cases and probably rejected ten.
I think the majority of

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patients are quite
content with helium.

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One reason that some don't is
the idea of having this balloon

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over the top of your head.
The balloon has the lack of

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dignity, but so does
taking sleeping pills.

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It has nowhere near the loss of

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dignity that a shotgun
carries, or a rope.

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Let's see, I've got a bag here.
Dr. Egbert insists

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that anyone who uses the
helium method is completely in

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control, and makes the
final decision alone.

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The point of no return is when
a patient pulls it down and

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that's made very clear to them.
And I often will say, "Once you

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pull it down, you've
made the decision.

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If you pull... full of helium,
pull this down over your head,

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you'll be unconscious between 30

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and 60 seconds, and unless you
have a very vigorous, strong

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heart, dead within
eight to ten minutes.

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When a person dies, then
we'll take the bag off.

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And after they... we've
sat for a few minutes.

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That way, if the relatives
are there, we'll ask them

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explicitly to wait a couple of
hours, so the body will cool,

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so that somebody won't
try and resuscitate.

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If they try and resuscitate
right away, they can get a

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heart... the heart's very tough
and the brain is not so tough.

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So the heart will
start up again.

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And I've seen a person like that

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where the heart started up
beautifully, normally, but the

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brain was totally dead.

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And that, we do... that is
the ultimate of disasters.