[jambutty]

Originally Posted by steeljack

the only problem with your idea is that it would be impossible to get an anaesthetist to administer the drugs , since these people are governed by the same rules as 'doctors' (golden rule of medicine ....do no harm) thats why we have to use 'trained paramedics' here in California who sometimes have problems finding a suitable vein .

I am fully aware of the Hippocratic oath that doctors (and that includes anaesthetists) take but I never suggested that a doctor should administer the drugs. Do try to read and understand what has been written. But you had to try and pour cold water on a feasible suggestion as a matter of course.

Albert Pierrepoint was the ‘hangman’ of England and he wasn’t born with the skill. See http://www.pierrepoint.co.uk/ He learned it from his father and uncle. And that was much more complicated than learning how to insert a needle into the back of someone’s hand.

So there is no reason why a suitable volunteer could not learn to be the official ‘executioner’.

An anaesthetist mixes a cocktail of drugs tailored to the patient in order not to kill them but to render them unconscious. There is no such need in a public execution so a layman could be trained.

If the allegedly trained paramedics in California sometimes have trouble locating a suitable vein, then their training has left a lot to be desired. I accept that on occasion it would be difficult to locate a vein in the crook of the elbow if the arm is fat but my personal experience is that our paramedics insert the needle into the back of the hand and even in a podgy hand the vein is easily located.