Mission Statement - De-Spinning the Pro-Taser Propaganda

Yeah right, 'Excited Delirium' my ass...

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The primary purpose of this blog is to provide an outlet for my observations and analysis about tasers, taser "associated" deaths, and the behaviour exhibited by the management, employees and minions of Taser International. In general, everything is linked back to external sources, often via previous posts on the same topic, so that readers can fact-check to their heart's content. This blog was started in late-2007 when Canadians were enraged by the taser death of Robert Dziekanski and four others in a short three month period. The cocky attitude exhibited by the Taser International spokespuppet, and his preposterous proposal that Mr. Dziekanski coincidentally died of "excited delirium" at the time of his taser-death, led me to choose the blog name I did and provides my motivation. I have zero financial ties to this issue.



Friday, October 16, 2009

Taser training and demos - FAKE FAKE FAKE

Keep in mind that, for years, Taser International has held up the many taser hits that occur during training and demonstrations as some sort of supporting evidence of the taser's cardiac safety. And many review-type "studies" and reports make mention of the same thing, and then use it to support their conclusions that tasers-R-safe.


1) It's already been pointed out that taser training and demonstration hits have virtually always been fired into the idiot volunteers' backs, never their chests. Scroll through the posts here [LINK].

That's the biggest difference (back versus chest) between these FAKE taser hits during training, and the real world where people sometimes die almost immediately after being tasered.

And I question the motivation of those that would obviously know about this difference, and yet fail to explicitly highlight it in their "studies".


2) And it was recently noted here that the "Training Cartridges" have darts that have a penetration depth about 40% shorter than the real world darts. [LINK] Again, nobody bothers to mention these details when they conduct their little "studies" and write their little reports.


Well tonight, the penny dropped. There's a third difference (4th if you include the typical duration delta between 1-5 seconds vs. 31 seconds).

3) If you've seen the FAKE taser training and demonstration hits, another constant factor are the two helpful folks providing support so that the idiot volunteer doesn't fall down and hurt themselves.

But, in the real world, the taser is intended to knock people off their feet. They fall down. And when, in the real world, the subject falls down, they will dislodge taser darts, break off wires, roll around so the dart and/or wire are making electrical contact with who-knows-where on their body?

By providing unrealistic anti-fall support, the training protocol ALSO ENSURES that the taser waveform current is making contact with the back, and ONLY the back.

With taser hits during training:
- No rolling around on live taser wires carrying 50,000 volts that can jump at least two inches.
- No unforeseen current injection points.
- No possibility of invisible, zero evidence transcardiac pathways.

When I watch the Dziekanski video again tonight it was clear that the Closing Submission from Taser International to the Braidwood Inquiry was a hopeless and misleading over-simplification.

THEY HAVE NO IDEA where the taser waveform current may have been injected as Mr. Dziekanski flailed his arms like a windmill, fell down, and then rolled and squirmed on the floor.

Mr. Dziekanski was dead within minutes. And Taser International would like us to believe it was due to a history of drinking. [LINK]

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