[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: A 79-yr-old man suffering from severe dementia in a nursing home is tasered after he reportedly used a ballpoint pen to stab a female employee in the chest and then refused to put the pen down. It was 5.30 am. The police tried to reason with him: He was zapped after the […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS Michael Ard has been driving drunk and hit two utility poles and a light pole. After was on a stretcher (handcuffed? – we don’t know), he spat at officers and refused to hold still. A police officer warned him to stop and then used his Taser. “We feel it’s certainly well within […]
[[SUMMARY /COMMENTS : Police Officer Curt Saint Germaine, with 22 years service, who refused “voluntary” tasering due to a heart condition known by his employers, is re-instated by the local sheriff after being fired for his refusal. As the local judge comments to the journalist: “If he’s not going to be tased, don’t carry it. […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : The conclusion of this semi-definitive NIJ study, undertaken by an independent medical panel, “because many gaps remain in the body of knowledge with respect to the effects of CEDs [tasers]. The panel finds no conclusive medical evidence in the current body of research literature” to indicate the taser kills when used […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: Amnesty International issues press release following the publication of US National Institute of Justice report just published which “leaves many questions unanswered about the safety of such devices, particularly in vulnerable populations… the report’s findings underscore the need for strict limits on the use of such weapons” particularly “multiple or prolonged discharge […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: Police say 26-year-old African-American Marcus Brown was combative even after being cuffed and put into the back of a cruiser so an officer tased him. He had been arrested for causing a disturbance in a hospital emergency room. Handcuffed in the police cruiser, Marcus received at least one more taser discharge; unresponsive, […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: “TASER-related injuries have increased in Queensland and a high number of suspects are still being repeatedly shot almost a year after tougher controls were put on police using the 50,000 volt devices….” although no widespread misuse of the gun was found. “Taser deployments since the introduction of the revised policy were generally […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: An important methodological study presented at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions in May 2011. In Sept 2010, UCSF cardiologists analyzed the results of all 119 empirical studies of taser safety in the MEDLINE data base. Of those meeting the criteria for this research, 23% were funded by TASER Inc.: […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: GlobalShock does not believe that new guide-lines are a panacea, but they can provide increased protection as long as the taser is in use. The “PERF 2011 Guidelines” are, we believe ground-breaking, from a widely-respected US forum (Police Executive Research Forum: PERF) – developed for and with the U.S. Department of Justice, […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: A very brief but disturbing news item: the 11-yr-old tasered in Prince George had serious psychiatric problem and was suffering from cardiomyopathy” – chronic disease of the heart muscle. In other words, even by TASER Inc.’s product warning, could have been killed by the use of the taser … What was he […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: In this case no taser was used (a “stun grenade”), but the post “clarifies” excited delirium. Dr Zeger explains: “The hallmark might be that they’re crazy. They’re throwing things, acting bizarre and having hallucinations, … Police were serving a search warrant to Bradley Hartz, 44, at 1420 B St. when Hartz became […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: Dr. Zian Tseng, a recognized expert cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of California, who testified at the Braidwood Inquiry, condemns the tasering of the 11-year-old boy in Prince George, BC: “Children should not be Tasered. They are especially vulnerable. They were pretty lucky it didn’t cause any cardiac arrhythmia.” Tasering involves have […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: In an all-too-familiar story: 23-year-old Jairious McGhee was suffering from viral meningitis, a serious but very rarely fatal disease, when he was being taken to Hospital for psychiatric evaluation Saturday. McGhee had urinated on himself, and had bloodshot eyes and dry lips, police said. A policeman was flagged down and McGhee became […]
[[Summary / Comments : These are practical suggestions to emergency medical services (ambulances, etc.): Note the need for medical intervention following any taser episode: “antiseptics and bandages are necessary to help treat burns or probe wounds … Remove a taser dart with a hemostat … then cleanse the area with warm water. apply an ice […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: ]] “It doesn’t make sense. It’s just what they did is wrong. It’s plain wrong,” said Anne Davis, a taser vicitim’s mother. “He suffered a seizure at a DeKalb County motel.Police had answered a call from paramedics about an unruly patient. Officers shocked the 29-year-old man six times.” ““My son was not […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: Called in to deal with a medical emergency involving violent behaviour, police taser 38 year-old Jerry Perrea. He dies. Police are baffled, We are not. “Whether Perea died from the Taser, a pre-existing medical condition or something else, the Office of the Medical Investigator said it will release the cause of death […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: In an interesting development, the Australian manufacturer/distributor of the FRED Easyport portable defibrillator suggests its product might have saved Antonio Galeano from dying “If the attending police officers had access to a such as Schiller’s FRED Easyport there may have been a different outcome.” This is more than “opportunism”: if police continue […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: “West Australia’s corruption watchdog has asked WA Police to investigate the conduct of officers involved in a clash which left one man in hospital and a policeman partially paralysed. The police officer received a record $3.3-million settlement, Mr McLeod made a complaint to the CCC over what he believed was excessive force […]
[[GlobalShock: “A yoga instructor shot with a Taser stun gun by a former Daytona Beach officer at Best Buy will likely receive a $38,000 settlement from the city. Elizabeth Beeland is seeking medical expenses of $29,118 from injuries in the 2007 shocking.” This settlement is expected to be signed immediately, following an equivalent settlement with […]
[[GlobalShock: A prison officer is refused taser training because he once had a precautiooary defibrillator. He was denied access to the taser training class, where officer are obliged to volunteer to be tasered. Eventually re-integrated as guard.]] Times-Leader.com, by Terrie Morgan-Besewcker … SCRANTON – A Luzerne County prison guard who was initially denied employment based […]