New conducted electrical weapons: Electrical safety relative to relevant standards.

Abstract

We have previously published about TASER® conducted electrical weapons (CEW) compliance with international standards. CEWs deliver electrical pulses that can inhibit a person's neuromuscular control or temporarily incapacitate. An eXperimental Rotating-Field (XRF) waveform CEW and the X2 CEW are new 2-shot electrical weapon models designed to target a precise amount of delivered charge per pulse. They both can deploy 1 or 2 dart pairs, delivered by 2 separate cartridges. Additionally, the XRF controls delivery of incapacitating pulses over 4 field vectors, in a rotating sequence. As in our previous study, we were motivated by the need to understand the cardiac safety profile of these new CEWs. The goal of this paper is to analyze the nominal electrical outputs of TASER XRF and X2 CEWs in reference to provisions of all relevant international standards that specify safety requirements for electrical medical devices and electrical fences. Although these standards do not specifically mention CEWs, they are the closest electrical safety standards and hence give very relevant guidance. The outputs of several TASER XRF and X2 CEWs were measured under normal operating conditions. The measurements were compared against manufacturer specifications. CEWs electrical output parameters were reviewed against relevant safety requirements of UL 69, IEC 60335-2-76 Ed 2.1, IEC 60479-1, IEC 60479-2, AS/NZS 60479.1, AS/NZS 60479.2, IEC 60601-1 and BS EN 60601-1. Our study confirmed that the nominal electrical outputs of TASER XRF and X2 CEWs lie within safety bounds specified by relevant standards.