TASER Electronic Control Devices Review Of Safety Literature

Asystole is, however, highly associated with excited delirium acidosis deaths. 41
2.14 Emotional Stress as an Indirect Cause of Cardiac Arrest
It is sometimes suggested that the emotional stress of a TASER ECD application
could indirectly induce a cardiac arrest. This is based on the lay-person perception
that emotional stress could cause a cardiac arrest. Like most lay misperceptions,
there is some truth to this. People under significant stress do have an increased
incidence of VF. However, the effects are far more delayed than generally
appreciated. Most of the increased risk is seen after 6 months of stress and it
has minimal impact within a day of the stress. 121 See also the “Last Straw” section
later in this chapter.
The stress theory is often stated as “a catecholamine increase pushed the person
over the edge.” I.e., the person was so close to death that any extra stimulation
could have killed. If this speculation were true, then law enforcement officer
or EMS personnel would be discourage from adding any stress — at all — to a
violent struggling or resisting subject or the person would die from the care-givers
actions. This leaves absolutely no options to the law enforcement officers and
EMS personnel except to walk away and increase risks to innocent bystanders
and the violent person himself.
There are also several scientific issues with the catecholamine causation theory.
Fighting subjects have such elevated levels of catecholamines that a further increase
is much harder to obtain. There is only so much epinephrine that the body
can manufacture. 122
Researchers exposed 10 subjects to a few second spray of OC (oleoresin capsicum
or “pepper spray) to the eyes (the usual target) and 5 subjects to a standard
5-second TASER X26 exposure with the probes shot into the back. 123 They
measured alpha-salivary amylase and cortisol at baseline, 10 minutes, 20 minutes,
and 1 hour. The results showed that salivary alpha-amylase increased
173% at 10 minutes with the oleoresin capsicum compared to no change (-0.8%)
for the TASER ECD. Salivary cortisol increased 87% with the oleoresin capsicum
versus 91% with the TASER ECD at 20 minutes. As a comparison, in a study in
which a subject was asked to retain his firearm from an attacker, resulting in a 1-
minute physical struggle, the amylase increased 27% at 10 minutes, and cortisol
increased 259% at 20 minutes. It is important to note that in this study, the subjects
were law enforcement officers who had previously participated in such drills
(in fact, a few were instructors), so these results would be expected to be low as
compared to real-world situations.
A study was done by Halter, et al. of symptom-limited handgrip versus cold pressor
tank versus symptom-limited supine bicycle exercise. Plasma norepinephrine
and epinephrine concentrations increased 3-6 times more than during either the
46