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Current Flow in the Human Body

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TASER® Conducted Electrical Weapons: Physiology, Pathology, and Law

Nonlethal weapons provide military and law enforcement personnel with a tool to resolve conflict with a proportionate, lawful, appropriate, and necessary use of force [1,2]. The CEW method of incapacitation is through electrical activation of skeletal muscle tissue innervated by peripheral nerves within the electric field created by the CEW [3]. The stimuli from a will override the motor nervous system and block the command and control of the human body. Conventional stun devices stimulate sensory neurons for pain compliance and can be overridden by a focused individual. The CEW directly stimulates preendplate motor nerves, causing incapacitation regardless of subject’s mental focus, training, size, or drug-induced dementia [4]. The most popular TASER CEW models supplied to law enforcement agencies are the M26 and X26.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    *Robert A. Stratbucker reports serving as a full-time employee of TASER International, Inc. and as a medical and scientific consultant to TASER International, Inc. Dr. Stratbucker reports as a stockholder of shares of TASER International, Inc. and with patents assigned to TASER International, Inc. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this chapter was reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chief Technical Officer with NewCardio, Inc., Santa Clara, CA

    Dorin Panescu

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  1. Dorin Panescu
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  2. Robert A. Stratbucker*
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Correspondence to Dorin Panescu .

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    © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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    Panescu, D., Stratbucker*, R.A. (2009). Current Flow in the Human Body. In: Ho, J., Kroll, M. (eds) TASER® Conducted Electrical Weapons: Physiology, Pathology, and Law. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85475-5_6

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85475-5_6

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