What Are the Dangers of Tasers?

Tasers are stun guns produced by Taser International. Instead of a regular muzzle, a Taser gun shoots out two barbed metal darts that lodge onto skin or clothes. Each trigger pull delivers 50,000 volts of electricity in 5-second cycles. The electric pulses override signals from the brain, causing violent contraction in the muscles around the darts. Twenty-nine of the 33 largest cities in the United States use Tasers. Amnesty International’s December 2008 report found that 334 people died in the United States between 2001 and 2008 after being Tasered by the police.

Sprains, Fractures and Bleeding

• According to Wired magazine, the electricity produced by a Taser is enough to render a person immobile. In some cases, the muscle contractions are so violent that they can cause sprains and fractures. Along with the muscle spasms, the person Tased also experiences excruciating pain. The seizures could also lead to skull fractures, concussions and intracranial bleeding.

Ventricular Fibrillation

• Tasers could potentially cause ventricular fibrillation. During ventricular fibrillation, the heart goes into overdrive. Rather than pumping blood in the normal sequence, the heart writhes uncontrollably, potentially causing sudden death, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, adrenaline has been thought to increase vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation, and many subjects Tasers are in an agitated state, pumped with adrenaline. Lastly, the shock and pain caused by Tasers are also thought to potentially cause epinephrine, the body’s stress hormone, to surge, increasing the risk of heart failure mere minutes or hours after Tasing, reports Wired.

Seizures

• Tasers interrupt brain signals. Tasing could cause the nerve cells in the brain to fire signals in a fast, rhythmic patter, triggering a seizure, Wired says. Seizures could potentially lead to secondary injuries and potentially lethal outcomes such as suffocation.