Further observations on plastic bag asphyxia using helium gas

Abstract

A review of cases where inhalation of helium had been a cause of, or a major contributor to, death was undertaken at Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA) over a five-year period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014. The data were compared with a previous study in the same population from 1985 to 2009. Sixteen cases were identified (age range 21–84 years; mean 44 years; median 37 years). The male to female ratio was 11:5. The study has shown that helium suicides in South Australia are still increasing, with a doubling of the numbers in the period 2010–2014 compared with 2005–2009. This increase is not due to changes in the total population numbers. Although suicides utilising helium are still only a small percentage of suicides overall for the region (16/888; 1.8%), the rate of increase of these deaths is noteworthy.

Keywords:

• helium
• suicide
• plastic bag
• asphyxia
• suffocation