ched and started. In each arm there is a saline intravenous line. The convict is then covered by a sheet. The lines are turned off and the felon receives the first injection of sodium thiopental. This puts the felon to sleep. They are then injected with Pavulon, which relaxes all of the muscles in the body and stops breathing. Shortly after, the felon dies. The next method of execution used is electrocution. This method is done by putting the person in a wooden chair, which they are secured to by leather straps. The electric current runs through the head and out the leg. The first current is of two thousand or more volts of electricity, lasting only an approximated three seconds. The voltage is then lowered to help prevent external burning of the body. The initial shock of the electricity causes the persons body to surge forward. The shock burns the internal organs or the person, which leaves them dead. During this process urinating, vomiting of blood, change in skin color, and even swelling or burning of the skin may occur. This method of execution is currently used by only eleven states. In a gas chamber execution the prisoner is put in a sealed steel chamber. The prisoner is restrained in a chair that has a pan below. At the first signal a valve is opened which releases hydrochloric acid into the pan. When a second signal is given tablets or crystals of about eight ounces of potassium cyanide is dropped into the acid. This combination creates a hydrocyanic gas. The fumes of this deadly gas rise and are inhaled by the prisoner, which kills them. The prisoner is pronounced dead and then the gas is sucked out of the chamber by big fans. Before the body is taken out it is sprayed with ammonia to neutralize any gas that still existed. Execution by the gas chamber started in attempt to find a more humane method than the electric chair. The gas chamber is currently used by only five states, that is less than electrocution. One of the oldest...
