Electric shock devices and their effects on the human body

Stun guns, shock batons and cattle prods are electric shock devices which can be used as weapons against the human body. Stun guns cause temporary incapacitation of the body whereas the other devices do not. The electrical outputs of examples of each type of device were measured using a digital storage oscilloscope at the moment when the device was discharged across resistors chosen to simulate the resistance of the human body. The outputs from the stun guns and the non-incapacitating devices have characteristic waveform shapes and magnitudes: significantly, the peak current from the stun guns is two orders of magnitude greater than from the other devices. To understand the possible hazardous effects of these outputs on the human body, the output parameters were related to the available information on the effects of electric currents on the human body and on the electro-immobilization of farm animals.