TASER Electronic Control Devices Review Of Safety Literature

Figure 2. Output waveform of TASER X26 ECD in tissue. The output circuit is designed to
deliver a constant charge per pulse. Thus the output current is largely load independent.
In comparison, an AED (automatic external defibrillator) delivers appropriately 40
mC (millicoulombs) into the person at discharge. Thus, the AED delivers approximately
400 times the charge of a TASER ECD.
1.3. How Does the ECD Indirectly Capture Muscles
The TASER ECD delivers a rapid series of very short duration (10-100 µs) electrical
pulses. Each pulse has less peak current than a strong static electricity
shock that one could get from a doorknob on a winter day. See Figure 3. Just as
a strong static shock temporarily incapacitates someone, this series of 19 very
short duration shocks per second delivered in probe-mode from the TASER X26
will likely temporarily incapacitate a person.
The ultra-short electrical pulses applied by TASER ECDs are intended to stimulate
A-α motor neurons, which are the nerves that control skeletal muscle contraction,
without stimulating cardiac muscle.
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