Can the Direct Cardiac Effects of the Electric Pulses Generated by the TASER X26 Cause Immediate or Delayed Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Normal Adults?
“Can the Direct Cardiac Effects of the Electric Pulses Generated by the TASER X26 Cause Immediate or Delayed Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Normal Adults?” is the title of a research paper produced by Ideker RE and Dosdall DJ. From the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama. USA.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007 Sep;28(3):195-201
The first line of their abstract is:
There is only a small amount of experimental data about whether the TASER X26, a nonlethal weapon that delivers a series of brief electrical pulses to cause involuntary muscular contraction to temporarily incapacitate an individual, can initiate ventricular fibrillation to cause sudden cardiac arrest either immediately or sometime after its use.
What they appear to have done is compare the specifications of the weapon with what is currently thought to be the amount of electro-stimulation of the heart required to cause damage. They have not done any experiments with the weapon, yet still feel able to conclude: “… it is highly unlikely that the TASER X26 can cause ventricular fibrillation minutes to hours after its use through direct cardiac effects of the electric field generated by the TASER.”
