Incapacitation recovery times from a conductive electrical weapon exposure

Purpose Law enforcement officers expect that a TASER ® CEW (Conducted Electrical Weapon) broad-spread probe exposure will temporarily incapacitate a subject who will then be able to immediately (~1 s delay) recover motor control in order to comply with commands. However, this recovery time has not b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forensic science, medicine, and pathology medicine, and pathology, 2014-06, Vol.10 (2), p.203-207
Main Authors: Criscione, John C., Kroll, Mark W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Conducted Energy Weapon Injuries - physiopathology
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Female
Forensic Medicine
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Original Article
Pathology
Police
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Recovery of Function - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Purpose Law enforcement officers expect that a TASER ® CEW (Conducted Electrical Weapon) broad-spread probe exposure will temporarily incapacitate a subject who will then be able to immediately (~1 s delay) recover motor control in order to comply with commands. However, this recovery time has not been previously reported. Methods A total of 32 police academy students were exposed to a very broad-spread 5 s CEW stimulus as part of their training and told to depress a push-button as soon as they sensed the stimulus. A subgroup also depressed the push-button after being alerted by an audio stimulus. Results The response time after the audio trigger was 1.05 ± 0.25 s; the median was 1.04 s (range 0.69–1.34 s). For the paired CEW triggered group the mean response time was 1.41 ± 0.61 s with a median of 1.06 s (range 0.92–2.18 s), which was not statistically different. Only 2/32 subjects were able to depress the button during the CEW exposure and with delays of 3.09 and 4.70 s from the start. Of the remaining 30 subjects the mean response time to execute the task (once the CEW exposure ended) was 1.27 ± 0.58 s with a median of 1.19 s (range 0.31–2.99 s) (NS vs. the audio trigger). Conclusions With a very-broad electrode spread, a CEW exposure could prevent or delay some purposeful movements. Normal reaction times appear to return immediately (~1 s) after the CEW exposure ceases.
ISSN:1547-769X
1556-2891
DOI:10.1007/s12024-014-9551-x