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Medical Care in a Police Intervention with Conducted Electrical Weapons: Zaragoza (Spain) Fire Department Protocol

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2021

Armando Cester-Martínez Open the ORCID record for Armando Cester-Martínez [Opens in a new window] ,
Leticia Serrano-Lasaosa Open the ORCID record for Leticia Serrano-Lasaosa [Opens in a new window]  and
Diego Borraz-Clares Open the ORCID record for Diego Borraz-Clares [Opens in a new window]
Armando Cester-Martínez
Affiliation:
Tactical Environment Medical Support Team – Zaragoza Fire Department (EBAZ), Zaragoza, Spain
Leticia Serrano-Lasaosa
Affiliation:
Tactical Environment Medical Support Team – Zaragoza Fire Department (EBAZ), Zaragoza, Spain
Diego Borraz-Clares*
Affiliation:
Tactical Environment Medical Support Team – Zaragoza Fire Department (EBAZ), Zaragoza, Spain
*
Correspondence: Diego Borraz-Clares Parque de Bomberos nº1 Valle de Broto 16 50015 Zaragoza, Spain E-mail: dborraz@gmail.com
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Abstract

In the last decade, conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) have become a new tool for law enforcement agencies as an alternative to firearms. They provide security in the intervention for both the police and the citizen and try to cause the least possible harm to the subject to immobilize.

The health care providers who perform in joint actions with the police in which CEWs are used should be aware of how they work, risk groups, as well as the most frequent clinical effects associated with the application of electrical discharge, and the complications that can be produced according to the area of impact of the electrodes.

For this purpose, the current medical literature was reviewed by consulting the main health care sciences database (PubMed) to determine the medical measures to be taken before, during, and after the use of these weapons. Also presented and shared is the Zaragoza (Spain) Fire Department protocol.

Keywords

conducted electrical weaponEmergency Medical Servicesphysical restraintpoliceTASER injury
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 5 , October 2021 , pp. 639 - 644
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

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