For anyone wondering why they didn’t just turn the magnet off immediately: Quenching the magnet is not instant. From what I’ve read, it can take 30 seconds to multiple minutes for the magnetic field to dissipate after pressing the button.
Also, the person wearing the 20lb chain was not the patient. There was an access control failure (someone peeking their head into the room?) combined with the extraordinary amount of metal resulting in a lot of pull.
A gofundme setup by his step-daughter for funeral costs says he was stuck to the magnet for over one hour. Which if accurate seems like the timescale for ultimately being quenched but after a lot of indecision about punching the button. Probably they waited for EMS to arrive and be screened etc and they had to decide etc.
That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You're going to have to hit the quench button at some point anyway, just to remove the chain (and the body attached to it; it's not like you can bring in a pair of bolt cutters to disconnect them if the machine is still operational -- that will only add to the problem). You may as well quench it immediately.
The other option is a controlled ramp down where the field is dissipated over a few hours which is greatly preferred if possible. But generally the training is to hit quench if someone's life is in immediate danger ... which it obviously was in this case so I'm puzzled the tech hesitated. My overall impression is the site doesn't seem to be run to standard accepted practice for a variety of reasons (which is extremely bad news for them if/when this gets in front of a jury).
Also, the person wearing the 20lb chain was not the patient. There was an access control failure (someone peeking their head into the room?) combined with the extraordinary amount of metal resulting in a lot of pull.