Execution by lethal injectionIn 1982, the first person executed by lethal injection in the U.S. was Charles Brooks in Texas. In this form of execution, the condemned person is usually bound to a gurney, attached to heart monitors and two needles (one is a back-up) are then inserted into suitable veins. Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution followed by an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Next flows a chemical which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate's breathing. Finally, the flow of another chemical stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious. |
