I went back to Denning's office and dialed the number. A pleasant-sounding man answered after two rings. I introduced myself and described the situation. Whittaker's voice took on a touch of urgency as he explained that Alex had written a will stipulating that his body was to be cryonically suspended upon death to be revived in the future, and that it was essential that the paramedics bring Alex's body to the CryoLife facility as quickly as possible. The body has to be brought to our facility immediately.
Brain cells begin to die as soon as the heart stops pumping oxygen.
The patient could be brain dead in as little as twenty minutes, and if revived would almost certainly be a vegetable. I said that because Alex had been murdered, the body couldn't be released until after the M.E. has completed his examintion. We have a mortician's table and equipment. Preparing the patient for suspension will take several hours, during which we'll use a heart-lung resuscitator on him. There'll be plenty of time then for an examination.