Post by WaTcHeR on May 27, 2006 11:16:08 GMT -5
05/27/2006 - Stunning findings in a University of Wisconsin Research study show tasers can kill pigs.
UW Professor John Webster says, previous researchers concluded tasers are non-lethal, but those studies involved tasering pigs on top of a thick layer of chest muscle and fat. In Websters project, researchers tasered pigs under the fat and muscle, and found, on average, the pigs died when the taser hit 17 millimeters, or two-thirds of an inch from the heart.
Webster and his team found people have between 10 and 50 millimeters of tissue over the heart.
Webster says he was surprised by his findings and he believes, tasers are still an effective tool for police. "If I were a deranged person with a knife charging a policeman or had a hostage, the police have to do something, quickly, I would prefer to be shot by a taser than a bullet."
Webster estimates the death rate with tasers is much less than one percent.
The research project costs $500,000 and is funded by the US Department of Justice. Webster says he hopes to complete the project by the end of the summer.
Taser international, the company that makes Tasers, released this statement to 27 news:
"Based upon input from our scientific and medical advisors, in Professor Webster’s latest study he cracked open the chest, removed the protective skin and muscle tissue layers which can disperse 98 percent of the electrical charge density, drilled a canal down to the surface of the heart, filled the canal with a conductive fluid, and placed the TASER® probe inside the canal, very close to the heart.
"Professor Webster's independent study is significant as it shows the extreme to which it is required to get VF to occur. Clearly, this doesn't represent any situation that occurs during actual field uses whatsoever and is an unrealistic real world worst case approach that can greatly magnify the currents at the heart.
"This research is akin to testing a directed laser beam versus the dispersion of an incandescent bulb. Under these same conditions of removing the protective skin and muscle tissue you could defibrillate the heart with a 9-volt battery."
UW Professor John Webster says, previous researchers concluded tasers are non-lethal, but those studies involved tasering pigs on top of a thick layer of chest muscle and fat. In Websters project, researchers tasered pigs under the fat and muscle, and found, on average, the pigs died when the taser hit 17 millimeters, or two-thirds of an inch from the heart.
Webster and his team found people have between 10 and 50 millimeters of tissue over the heart.
Webster says he was surprised by his findings and he believes, tasers are still an effective tool for police. "If I were a deranged person with a knife charging a policeman or had a hostage, the police have to do something, quickly, I would prefer to be shot by a taser than a bullet."
Webster estimates the death rate with tasers is much less than one percent.
The research project costs $500,000 and is funded by the US Department of Justice. Webster says he hopes to complete the project by the end of the summer.
Taser international, the company that makes Tasers, released this statement to 27 news:
"Based upon input from our scientific and medical advisors, in Professor Webster’s latest study he cracked open the chest, removed the protective skin and muscle tissue layers which can disperse 98 percent of the electrical charge density, drilled a canal down to the surface of the heart, filled the canal with a conductive fluid, and placed the TASER® probe inside the canal, very close to the heart.
"Professor Webster's independent study is significant as it shows the extreme to which it is required to get VF to occur. Clearly, this doesn't represent any situation that occurs during actual field uses whatsoever and is an unrealistic real world worst case approach that can greatly magnify the currents at the heart.
"This research is akin to testing a directed laser beam versus the dispersion of an incandescent bulb. Under these same conditions of removing the protective skin and muscle tissue you could defibrillate the heart with a 9-volt battery."