The Peaceful Pill eHandbook Aesthetic and Other Concerns
The image of a bag tied tightly around one’s neck has turned many off the idea of using a plastic Exit Bag. Even at Exit International workshops, it is common for those in the audience to voice their disgust at the Exit Bag, saying ‘I don’t like the thought of being found like that.’ Retired French academic, Lisette Nigot, spoke openly of her dislike for the method. In the film, Mademoiselle and the Doctor (discussed earlier), Lisette likened the plastic Exit Bag to being ‘wrapped like a piece of ham.’ But these are aesthetic, not physiologic concerns. If used correctly, the Exit Bag provides a simple, reliable and peaceful end of life option.
A Peaceful Death using Inert Gas
Whereas once it was advocated that an Exit bag could be used with sleeping pills, this approach is now firmly discarded. The best method of using an Exit Bag involves the use of an inert gas such as Nitrogen, Helium or Argon.
The use of an inert gas is advocated because of its ability to create a space that is devoid of oxygen. It is the space created by the inflated bag that makes a peaceful death from hypoxia (lack of oxygen) possible. A person using an Exit Bag will only have the bag over their head for a matter of seconds until unconsciousness occurs. With prior hyperventilation and a steady flow of inert gas to flush away any exhaled CO2
, there is no risk of a bad reaction.
Let us explain. The flow of gas into the Exit Bag displaces residual or exhaled oxygen. A person does not need to wait for the residual oxygen inside the bag to be used.
