...first being put into use? Are there any reliable statistics available such as how often tasers are used against assailants, when used what the ratio of injuries would be due to the use and also deaths?
<Update> I did find this link which has some information:
<deep snip>
Deaths and injury associated with electroshock weapon use
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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references.
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Supporters say that electroshock guns are a safer alternative to devices such as firearms. Taser uses the term "non-lethal" as defined by the US Department of Defence - which does not mean the weapon cannot cause death, but that it is not intended to be fatal.<10> Non-lethal weapons are defined as "weapons that are explicitly designed and primarily employed so as to incapacitate personnel or material, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel, and undesired damage to property and the environment."<11>
It is possible that tasers, or any other high voltage device could cause cardiac arrhythmic disorders in a susceptible minority of people, possibly leading to heart attack or death in minutes by ventricular fibrillation (which leads to cardiac arrest and if not treated immediately to sudden death).
People susceptible to this outcome are sometimes healthy and unaware of their susceptibility.
Between September 1999 and October 2004, there were 73 cases of deaths of subjects soon after having been shocked using Tasers. Of these cases:
In 8 cases, medical examiners said Tasers were a cause or a contributing factor or could not be ruled out as a cause of death.
In 18 cases coroners and other officials stated that Tasers were not a factor.
In most of the 73 cases, drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, and PCP were concluded to be the major factor leading to death.
In many cases pre-existing cardiovascular conditions or other medical conditions were stated to be a contributing factor, but the taser was the direct cause.
Several deaths occurred as a result of injuries sustained in struggles. In a few of these cases head injury due to falling after being shocked contributed to later death.
These incidents form a very small percentage of many tens of thousands of operational uses of tasers.<12>
Various lawsuits against the manufacturers and users of electroshock weapons are pending, but many court judgements have dismissed lawsuits by finding evidence of preexisting conditions, ranging from excited delirium (caused by a subject's interaction with high levels of drug-use) which may be a factor before cardiac arrest, and preexisting osteoporosis which would make bone fracture more likely when the device is used on the subject.
Police officers in at least five states have filed lawsuits against Taser International claiming they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes. <13>
<MORE>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroshock_gun
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