Lethal Injection
In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution, though it would be five more years until Charles Brooks would become the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas on December 2, 1982. The condemned person is strapped to a gurney and a member of the execution team puts several heart monitors on the condemned person. Two needles (one for backup) are put into usable veins usually in the inmates arm. A tube is connected to the needle, so the execution team can insert the solutions from behind a cement wall. A harmless saline solution is inserted into the inmate. At the warden’s signal, sodium thiopental - an anesthetic,is inserted which puts the inmate to sleep. Next pancuronium bromide, is given to the inmate which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate's breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious. Doctors can’t help with the actual process, but a doctor is there to clarify that the inmate is dead.
This lack of medical participation can be problematic because often injections are performed by inexperienced technicians or orderlies. If a member of the execution team injects the drugs into a muscle instead of a vein, or if the needle becomes clogged, extreme pain can result. Many prisoners have damaged veins resulting from intravenous drug use and it is sometimes difficult to find a usable vein, resulting in long delays while the inmate remains strapped to the gurney.
In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution, though it would be five more years until Charles Brooks would become the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas on December 2, 1982. The condemned person is strapped to a gurney and a member of the execution team puts several heart monitors on the condemned person. Two needles (one for backup) are put into usable veins usually in the inmates arm. A tube is connected to the needle, so the execution team can insert the solutions from behind a cement wall. A harmless saline solution is inserted into the inmate. At the warden’s signal, sodium thiopental - an anesthetic,is inserted which puts the inmate to sleep. Next pancuronium bromide, is given to the inmate which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate's breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious. Doctors can’t help with the actual process, but a doctor is there to clarify that the inmate is dead.
This lack of medical participation can be problematic because often injections are performed by inexperienced technicians or orderlies. If a member of the execution team injects the drugs into a muscle instead of a vein, or if the needle becomes clogged, extreme pain can result. Many prisoners have damaged veins resulting from intravenous drug use and it is sometimes difficult to find a usable vein, resulting in long delays while the inmate remains strapped to the gurney.