The inmate may have non-contact visits with members of his immediate family. He can order his last meal , from a menu that includes hamburger, chicken, breaded fish and pizza and chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ice cream , but must eat it in his cell.
He can write his final statement, dictate it to be typed by someone else or make no statement. He may meet with his attorney until 6 p.m., and with a spiritual adviser until 6:30.
During the last hour, the inmate will be handcuffed and escorted to the execution chamber by six corrections officers , one for each arm and leg, one for his feet and one for his head , who will strap him face-up on the gurney to receive a lethal injection.
The curtain over the execution chamber window remains closed as a mysterious "lethal injection team" enters the chamber and inserts an intravenous line into the prisoner's outstretched arm. Officials refuse to identify or discuss the team members for reasons of safety and privacy, except to say they have the necessary training.
The curtain will be opened for the first time after the injection team leaves the chamber and administers the first drug in the deadly intravenous "cocktail" , pentobarbital, a sedative. It will be closed again while the team returns to confirm that the inmate is unconscious, then reopened after the team leaves to administer the pancuronium bromide, a paralytic agent; and finally the potassium chloride that will stop the heart.
Once the inmate's brain activity stops, the curtain is closed while a coroner confirms he is dead. The curtain is opened again while the prison superintendent announces that the inmate is dead and then closed as the witnesses are escorted out.
Unless the inmate makes other arrangements, his body is cremated at state expense.
Source: Philly.com, October 3, 2012
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