Can A Taser Be Substitute Defibrillator?

[Abraham]

Yeah, I know this sounds like a nutty question and maybe it is.

However, in a Science Channel episode recently it explained that hundreds of thousands die annually from Cardiac arrhythmia, that is the heart loses it proper beating rhythm and if you have a defibrillator you can shock the heart back into rhythm with enough of a shock. So, perhaps if an officer of the law is around and has a taser he could tase the victim and maybe save his life.

Anyone know if this could possibly work?

[nitrogen]

Doubt it. The energy needs to be in a certain waveform for it to work properly. (a biphasic truncated waveform is what defibrilators use these days.)

[Commander Cody]

A simple answer would be NO!

[hheremtp]

Not likely, besides tasers are supposedly designed not to interrupt the electrical conduction of the heart.

[jimlongley]

Doubt it. The energy needs to be in a certain waveform for it to work properly. (a biphasic truncated waveform is what defibrilators use these days.)

Taser contacts are spaced too close together, too.

[DoubleJ]

Ah, Difibri-now, or Defrillator? That, is the question...

[Fangs]

It worked in Crank 2...

[WildBill]

It worked in Crank 2...

Then it must be true.

[Rex B]

With all the heat cops get everytime they use a taser legitimately, can you imagine the furor if an LEO Tased a heart-attack victim?
Can you say "Career-ending Move"?

[LaserTex]

Ah, Difibri-now, or Defrillator? That, is the question...

:O: - I know don't encourage him...but that was funny!

Doug

[Catfight]

The Taser affects exoskeletal muscles, not cardiac muscles.

[randomizzer]

Short answer, No.

Longer answer is that a Taser while generating a very high voltage, generates a very small amount of current and not enough energy to (orders of magnitude less) than a defibrillator.
Second problem is that the pathway on a taser does not cross through the heart.
Third problem is you can't tell if a person having a heart attack is actually in a shockable rythm. If they are not you could do more harm than good shocking them with a defibrillator or anything else.

The best thing you can do is learn CPR. Good CPR will keep a persons vital organs and brain alive until a defibrillator arrives.


By the way the above does not constitute medical advice, I am not a physician or nurse and do not provide medical advice.

I just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near a hosptial.

[ELB]

Short answer, No.

Third problem is you can't tell if a person having a heart attack is actually in a shockable rythm. If they are not you could do more harm than good shocking them with a defibrillator or anything else.

Automated External Defibrillators take care of this little problem -- they won't administer a "shock" unless they detect an arrhythmia that can be helped by it. It will just instruct you to continue CPR. I doubt Tasers have this feature built into them... Besides, Taser's manufacturer spends a lot of time in court trying to prove that the Taser can NOT affect the heart...