Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jun 2006
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Nicole Bergot, Edmonton Sun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

STUN GUNS DON'T KILL - EXPERT

Stun gun deployment is by no means a death sentence, says the 
province's chief medical examiner.

In fact, there's absolutely "no definitive cases where Tasers have 
actually killed anybody," says Dr. Graeme Dowling, from the medical 
examiner's office in Edmonton.

"You can understand why that perception happens, because it's the 
thing that happened closest to the death. And it's something that 
some people don't agree with, so you get this whole thing with civil 
liberties versus how safe is it."

Dowling stresses that electricity from a Taser flows across the 
skin's surface, not through internal organs, thus there's absolutely 
no electrical effect on the heart.

But when there's a death in custody following deployment of a police 
stun gun, the two are invariably linked.

Dowling said it's excited delirium - a relatively uncommon condition 
known to strike drug and alcohol abusers and some psychiatric 
patients - that's often to blame.

Victims typically display bizarre, aggressive, paranoid behaviour 
that's combined with "superhuman" strength that can take between six 
and eight people to restrain.

Once under control, victims of the condition can suddenly stop 
breathing and all attempts to resuscitate them fail.

Immediate Speculation

"The frustrating thing for us is these deaths occur and the immediate 
speculation is Taser," says Dowling.

That was the case with Ronald Perry, who died March 23, 2004, after 
suffering a massive heart attack brought on by excited delirium. He 
was taken to hospital four days earlier following a struggle with up 
to six cops before a Taser was used to restrain him. The medical 
examiner's office later found no link between his death and the stun gun.

Edmonton city police Const. Shawna Goodkey, with the officer safety 
unit, says restraint of the person and medical attention are key 
responses to potential excited delirium cases.

"We get enough resources to deal with them quickly, get a Taser 
there. If there's a chance this is what's happening, the faster we 
can get medical attention the more likely we'll be able to prevent 
them from hitting that point of no return."

Cocaine Overdose

Publicity around stun gun use swirled again Christmas Eve, when 
Alesandro Fiacco died on the way to hospital after police used a 
Taser to restrain him. Toxicology tests revealed this week he died of 
a cocaine overdose.

Perry's was the fourth death in Edmonton since May 2001 ruled to be 
from excited delirium involving men who had to be subdued by police 
because of violent behaviour.

The first case was that of a schizophrenic man who was pepper-sprayed 
by officers. The autopsy concluded the spray did not contribute to 
his death. Cocaine intoxication was blamed for causing excited 
delirium in the other two cases. They did not involve Tasers or pepper spray.

But if authorities used no restraint in those cases, Dowling believes 
the individuals still would not survive, "but then of course people 
would say why didn't you help this person.

"It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation."

Dowling notes that before police Tasers were blamed for excited 
delirium deaths, it was police pepper spray. And before that, it was 
police hog-tying.

"But we've had cases where it's a closed apartment and the place is 
trashed, mirrors are broken, and there's a person who's dead inside - 
no police there, no one else there whatsoever, no Tasers, no 
restraint, no nothing, but this person's still dead. And you do a 
toxicology test and sure enough there's a bit of cocaine and those 
are cases of excited delirium - no restraint yet they still die."
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