Can shooting a taser at someones heart cause a heart attack and/or heart failure?

David B

Short answer- No.
Long answer- The TASER is designed to incapacitate the subject by mimicking the neural impulses that control the VOLUNTARY muscles such as the arms, legs, etc, but at an intensity that is greater than the body's normal physiology so that it "overrides" it causing short duration sustained muscular contraction. This is known as "Neuro Muscular Incapacitation. The use of electricity to override the normal control systems works better because it doesn't rely on pain, which can be ignored by training, drugs, etc, to gain compliance. While the TASER uses an impressive sounding 50,000 volts, that's roughly the same as a bad static shock. The real issue is the AMPERAGE or amount of electrical flow. The TASER uses low amperage to override the body's natural signals, while staying below the threshold required for cardiac damage/disturbance.

Persons under the influence of drugs such as Amphetamines, Cocaine, PCP, and other stimulants can have "heart attacks" or arrythmias caused solely by the drugs themselves. In addition, people who are having a psychotic episode can be experiencing the effects of large doses of adrenalin. In either of these scenarios when confronted by law enforcement these people tend to become violent and place further strain on their already overburdened heart. Many will even continue to struggle against the restraints adding even more stress. To give you an idea of what these people are capable of let me give you a scenario that actually happened while I was working urban EMS-
We were dispatched to an "agressive psych" patient at a bus shelter on Main street. On arrival we saw the gentelman- 40-50yrs, 150-160lbs arguing with several police officers. When they attempted to stop him from leaving he resisted and began walking down the sidewalk with THREE officers on top of him trying to take him down. After a brief struggle they managed to get him over near our gurney where it took 4 officers, myself, my partner, & our supervisor to restrain him. He was not on any stimulant drugs either.

All "TASER Deaths" that I am aware of occured minutes to hours after the event, those are clearly not related to the use of the TASER. In order to be considered causative evidence the death would have to occur DURING the TASER deployment. It is also interesting that while there have been deaths after the use of the TASER in the field, there have been ZERO fatalities in the hundreds, and more likely now thousands, of law enforcement officers who have been hit with the TASER during training or demonstrations. If the TASER was as dangerous as some poeple would have you believe, than there should have been atleast several deaths of law enforcement officers by now.

- David

nurselaci

No, the taser isn't strong enough.

mebe1042

No. To put it simply and not be too technical, the Taser works by conducting electrical impulses through the body that override the muscular control and nervous system(which causes the pain sensation). The impulses are in the same range of milliamps that the human body itself uses to contract muscles. That's why when you see someone get hit with a Taser, they fall over like a board.

As opposed to the uneducated comments that have been posted claiming that Tasers themselves have caused numerous deaths. Quite often if a person dies, it is due to the toxic levels of drugs in their system or they go into cardiac arrest caused by the physical exertion from fighting/resisting Officers before the taser was used. Another cause of death is known as "Excited Delirium" Where the body temperature is high enough to be fatal and the person is literally in the process of dying. That's why you see the You Tube videos of guys naked acting irrationally and fighting. Their brain is literally burning up because of their high body temperature.

A final though to those that seem to think Tasers by themselves are fatal. If that were true then there'd be a LOT of dead Police Officers. We have to be shot with a Taser as part of the training to be able to carry on.

Think about it.

chuckles951

There are several deaths a year from Taser use. While it is still safer than being shot with a gun, to be strong enough to stop most perps, they have to be powerful enough that some people shot with one will die.

alb210

Negative police are train to aim towards center mass. And yes it can trigger a heart attack/ heart failure. If the person has a heart problem to begin with I'm sure 50,000 volts wouldn't help that in anyway.

Copgirl

shilo9i

No. The only deaths related to tasers have been shown to occur in those individuals who were high on illegal stimulants like cocaine or meth. The drugs kill them, not the taser. In addition, amperage would be able to stop your heart, but tasers use high voltage instead, which will not stop your heart.

ranger_co_1_75

No, there isn't enough amps in a taser to cause heart fibulation. A taser produces the same charge as an electric fence used to keep livestock in a pasture. Farm workers touch the electric fence all the time, both accidental and intentional. No one has died yet.

YoBro

Probably not, but why take the chance. Remember Murphy's law, it may kill someone if you do it. "MURDER ONE" !!!

Conor

Ranger_c...what are you talking about? There have been several hundred murders due to the use of tasers. The answer is whether you shoot at someone's chest or arm, it still would provide the same amount of harm. Taser companies only allow a certain amount of cycles that are considered non-lethal continuously before it can be considered deadly.

toetagme

Yes. Cops have killed dozens of people in Florida alone with their little toys. Most of them get a kick out of it and do it more than necessary.

Gingy

not if your fat...

Kevin C

probably... but I thought cops are suppose to aim at lower power/legs >.> never upper body since it has many vulnerable areas

portgurlkiki

Y WOULD U WONT 2 DO DAT...

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: