Taser's worst nightmare?
Ventricular Fibrillation and Sudden Coronary Death
By Mina E. Rajskina
Edition: 2, illustrated.
Published by Springer, 1999
ISBN 0792385705, 9780792385707
Preview on Google Books [LINK]
Page 157: 6.4.1.2 Postmortem Diagnosis of Ventricular Fibrillation
Basically, the distribution of potassium (K) in the heart tissue can be used to determine if the otherwise-invisible ventricular fibrillation (VF) was occurring during death. Related on-line searches reveal other reports about using other chemical tracers (Na, Ca and K) to indicate what was happening in the heart during the events leading to death.
Obviously, this sort of postmortem test should be performed on all tasered-then-dead victims. If the sequence tasered-then-dead can be shown to also include VF, then it would go a long way to solving the taser 'Proof Issue'.
This info about post-mortem identification of VF is extremely valuable to me - I will be forwarding it to all Australian coroners and forensic pathologists.
ReplyDeleteAmazing work you're doing - many thanks.
Excellent, that's the reason I started this blog: To make sure that the other side of the story is told.
ReplyDeleteI've seen evidence that coroners are directed to contact Dr. Mash for postmortem brain testing to 'prove' excited delirium. If such things are combined with NOT testing for VF, then that is evidence of something, but I'm not sure what.
Good luck.