Switzerland to use 'suicide pod' which promises painless death in 1 minute

The 3-D printed Sarco Pod was created by Australian non-profit organisation Exit International. (Image credit: Exit International)

Switzerland has recently legalised the use of Sarco Suicide Pod — a 3D-printed portable coffin-like capsule with windows — for assisted suicide. Prototyped in the Netherlands, and developed by Australia-based international nonprofit Exit International, the pod resembles a coffin and will be ready for operation in the country by 2022.

While the assisted-dying or voluntary euthanasia sector in Switzerland required the ingestion of liquid sodium pentobarbital due to its rapid onset of coma and perception of a peaceful death, the Sarco pods can provide a peaceful death without the use of controlled substances. The company website adds that the capsule's design "was intended to suggest a sense of occasion: of travel to a ‘new destination’, and to dispel any ‘yuk’ factor."

The Sarco pod — which carries the tagline "Go with style" — can be towed to a location preferred by the person who wishes to die and can be activated from the inside, founder of Exit International Dr Philip Nitschke had said in an interview with SwissInfo. "The person will lie down inside the capsule and they will be asked a couple of questions, and after which they will be given time to press the button to activate the process," he said.

Once activated, the pod fills its interior with nitrogen and rapidly decreases oxygen, causing the person to lose consciousness and ultimately die without panicking or choking.  The entire process takes about a minute.

In a demonstration last year, Dr Nitschke said, "The benefit for the person who uses it is that they don't need some special doctor to try and get a needle in, and they don't need to obtain difficult drugs."

Apart from Switzerland, assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia is allowed in Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Colombia.