Despite having a rapid rise to infamy since their introduction to the US police force, Tasers are now known to be the "less lethal" alternative form of a firearm. The new report recently published by BMJ this week has presented the effect of tasers on cardiac health.
Currently, Tasers are already being used by more than 16,000 police forces across 107 countries.
As per Medical News Today, Tasers have shocked people more than 1.35 million times worldwide. Statistics show that there were 650,000 cases where Tasers have been used during arrests and stops while 700,000 cases during police training.
Taser International, the primary manufacturer of the said product, reported that for every 2 minutes, one of their devices is being deployed, on average.
Since the Air Taser Model 34000 was released in 1994, the company has sold more than 800,000 Taser weapons. And as designed and manufactured by Taser International in Scottsdale, AZ, Taser X26 is the most popular nowadays.
Health concerns over Taser use
UK home secretary, Teresa May, requested for a review on how Tasers are used especially on mentally ill patients in care homes and hospitals when she found that there was a sudden recent increase in the number of its use. Teresa was greatly concerned as to how these things are being used on these type of situations.
Without proper handling, eye injuries, seizures, tonic-clonic seizures, collapsed lung commonly known as pneumothorax, seizures in people with epilepsy, muscle, joint, and tendon injuries and skin burns plus a short-lived decline in cognitive functioning are just some of the known risks of using Tasers.
Brought by an unguarded fall, the biggest health concern of the authorities is having a head injury.
When it comes to the effect of its use, a Taser's neutrality has already been called into question as several researches has been conducted by the companies that manufacture them.
